Fight Inside
by Cap55
Summary: Post CA:TWS. Steve and Sam are on a mission to find Bucky, but on the way, things go terribly wrong and Steve's life depends on Bucky remembering who he is. Bucky has to fight to remember his old life and to move past his training. He has to fight to remember Steve as a friend and not his mission. (Includes my take on Steve/Bucky's history) Rated T for angst and some language.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! Welcome to the newest adventure that I've been wanting to start for a long time. I haven't done any Steve/Bucky stories yet and I'm really excited about this one.**

 **I love the relationship between Steve and Bucky and all the shifts that happen throughout their story. Bucky is the only one who has known Steve for his whole life and who can really relate to him. Like Steve says in** **Winter Soldier, it's difficult to find someone with shared life experiences.**

 **All rights to Marvel and their characters belong to Disney and no infringement is intended. I'm making no money. All rights an lyrics to Fight Inside belongs to the band Red and no infringement is intended.**

 _Enemy, familiar friend  
My beginning and my end.  
Knowing truth, whispering lies  
And it hurts again._

 _And it finds me  
The fight inside is coursing through my veins.  
And it's raging  
The fight inside is breaking me again._

 **Fight Inside - Chapter 1**

"I gotta get out of here," Bucky thinks to himself.

He's only been at the orphanage for a couple hours and he already hates it. There's not enough food to feed everyone as much as they need (which really is okay since the food is terrible anyway), there aren't enough beds for all the kids, and the Catholic Sisters who watch over the boys are easily outnumbered 30 to 1. Everyone is struggling right now to make ends meet and, unfortunately, poverty doesn't discriminate who it devastates. It strikes whomever it pleases, even children.

Bucky is one of those casualties along with hundreds of other kids here with him. It's hard for him to believe that he was happy and living with his family only a few months ago. They weren't rich, but they got by. He and his little brother, Henry, were best friends and all they needed.

Bucky was three years older than Henry and always had felt that it was his job to look out for him. Henry wasn't exactly a troublemaker, but he was always getting into trouble when he really meant well. There were quite a few times Bucky had to rescue him from the dumpster behind the grocery store when he would get stuck after he climbed in to throw scraps of food out to the hungry stray dogs that would run around the neighborhood. Or he would find Henry digging up holes in the city park searching for buried treasure or something outrageous he had read about in one of his books. Bucky remembers his mother always sighing when Henry came home full of dirt/garbage smudges and his hair messy from his adventures.

Most of Henry's adventures were fairly innocent, but every once in a while, Bucky would have to save Henry from one of the older kids in the neighborhood. Henry was quiet and a little shy compared to the other boys and that made him an easy target. But Bucky was always there to defend his little brother.

Life wasn't easy, but it was good. Then the Depression hit and everything fell to pieces. His father was out of work and they had no money for food or to pay their rent. His mother did her best to put on a happy face and support her husband, but the stress of raising two boys without any income was beginning to put a strain on their marriage.

The bills were piling up and the phone calls from collectors became more and more frequent and angry. In a last ditch effort to bring some kind of income home for his family, his father turned to gambling what little money they had. As gambling usually goes, it didn't end well. His father lost everything and ended up putting his family further into debt.

In an act of desperation, his father borrowed money from the wrong people. Men were coming to their apartment, demanding payment that his father didn't have. This happened night after night for weeks until, one evening, a rather large man knocked on their door. Things became heated between the man and his father and Bucky's mother pushed the boys out of the living area and into the bathroom.

"You both stay in here. Don't come out no matter what, understand?" the two boys nod. "Keep your brother safe, James," his mother kissed his forehead. "That's your job. You keep him safe and you take care of him." Bucky nodded again and his mother shut the door. That was the last time he saw her alive.

Shouting came from outside the door followed by screaming and gunshots. Bucky knew it was time for him to do his job.

"Go Henry!" Bucky shouted as he shoved his little brother to his feet and opened the bathroom window.

"But what about mom and dad?" Henry cried.

"Just go, Henry," Bucky ordered. They both nearly jumped out of their skin when someone started banging on the bathroom door. The hinges shook and the old door wasn't going hold up to the abuse for long.

Bucky quickly helped his brother out onto the fire escape when the door finally splintered and broke. Bucky was about to climb out the window after Henry when the large man grabbed his arm, pulling him back in.

"Get out of here Henry!" Bucky ordered, but his brother didn't listen. Instead, he jumped back through the window, unwilling to leave Bucky behind.

"Look out!" Henry shouted when the man pulled out a gun. Bucky ran and tackled the man with everything he had. The gun went off and Bucky dropped to the floor, covering his head. Slowly, he opened his eyes and saw the man on the ground with a splintered board sticking out of his chest.

Adrenaline pumping, he didn't waste a second. He turned to grab his brother to run, but his heart sank with what he saw behind him.

"Henry!" Bucky yelled and kneeled next to his baby brother. The gunshot had hit him in the chest during the fight and he was bleeding out onto the bathroom floor before Bucky's eyes. Bucky grabbed one of the bathroom towels and pressed it to the bleeding wound in a desperate attempt to save him. "Henry, you idiot. Why don't you ever listen to me?"

"S-sorry," Henry stuttered.

"Just shut up and stay with me," Bucky begged.

"Bucky," his brother rasped. "Run."

It took him a moment, but he finally heard what Henry heard; footsteps. More men were coming up the stairs. Bucky ran into the other room, closing his eyes as he ran by his parents laying dead on the floor. He slammed the door shut and locked the deadbolt before he returned to Henry.

"We don't have much time. Can you stand?" Bucky asked when he returned to the bathroom, but Henry didn't answer. "Henry?" Bucky shouted and shook his brother, trying to wake him, but he never did. "No. No no no no no," Bucky pleaded. His shoulders shook as he wept, gripping Henry's blood-soaked shirt in his fists.

More pounding on the door pushed Bucky to move. "I'm sorry," he sobbed and slowly pulled himself away from his brother's body. "I'm so sorry," he took one last look into the small apartment where he was happily eating dinner with his family only hours before. With one jump, he left his home and family behind and ran. He didn't know where he was going or what he was going to do. He just ran.

A couple months later, the city picked Bucky up after he'd been caught stealing food. When they found out he didn't have any parents or legal guardians, his choices were the orphanage or juvenile detention. He chose the orphanage, but after arriving, he decided there really wasn't much difference between the two options.

The fenced off courtyard is bare and filled with unwanted or abandoned kids, but he finds a quiet corner and begins to lay his plans for his escape when he catches something out of the corner of his eye. He looks over to see what is probably the scrawniest kid in the whole place standing in front of what is probably the biggest kid Bucky's ever seen. It reminds him of the story of David and Goliath his mother told him when he was little. Bucky finches at the happy memory, but quickly turns his attention back to the scene in front of him.

At first it just looks like they're talking, but it all goes south when the Giant punches the little Kid. Bucky stands and watches for a moment, waiting for one of the Nuns to step in and help, but none of them even see the altercation or they're busy intervening with other troublemakers.

"Just stay down, Kid," Bucky watches when the kid stands and throws a punch of his own, but the Giant easily deflects his attack and shoves him back into the dirt, snatching the kids lunch and his inhaler away from him.

"Hey!" Bucky shouts, not able to just stand by anymore while this Kid gets himself beaten into the ground. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

"Why don't _you_ keep moving and mind your own business," the Giant turns around to face Bucky. The kid is seriously huge and more than a little intimidating.

"Give the kid his lunch and medicine back and we can all walk away," Bucky stands firm between him and the little Kid who just watches him with wide-eyes from the ground.

"Maybe I'm hungry," the older boy shrugs. "I already ate my lunch and this sandwich smells pretty good."

"Looks to me like you've already had one too many sandwiches," Bucky pokes the chubby boy. _Mistake_ , he thinks to himself.

Bucky ducks to dodge the fist from the Giant and shoves him back. He charges at Bucky, but he dips to the side and sticks his leg out to trip the lumbering bully. He stumbles and quickly picks himself up to face Bucky when he sees that one of the Nuns finally noticed the scuffle going on right under their noses.

"You got lucky today, Runt, but you'd better watch your back," the Giant threatens and throws the kid his lunch and inhaler back before he leaves with his group.

"You okay, Kid?" Bucky turns around to the little, blonde boy on the ground as he takes a puff of his inhaler. He keeps his head down, holding his scraped up arm, and nods. He offers up the small paper bag with his lunch in it to Bucky. "I don't want your food, Kid. Besides, you look like you need it more than I do."

The kid looks up at Bucky with big, blue eyes and smiles a little before he munches on his sandwich. "You should have one of the Sisters look at your eye, Kid," Bucky frowns at the shiner the kid is already sporting from when he got hit.

The Kid doesn't say anything and Bucky turns around to leave. He makes it half way across the yard when he stops and turns to find the little boy following him. He stops in his tracks and looks at Bucky, unsure of what to do and looking a little panicked. Bucky thinks it looks like he's going to run away, but, instead, he sheepishly holds up half of his sandwich to Bucky again.

"Thanks, but I told you, Kid, I don't want your food," Bucky shakes his head, but the Kid stands firm and puts the meager food offering in Bucky's hand and slowly turns to walk away. Bucky sighs. "Hey, wait," the kid stops and looks back to Bucky. "You wanna eat with me?" The little boy nods and sits next to Bucky on the ground.

Bucky studies the little boy for a moment. He's small and thin. The clothes he's wearing are way too big for him, but it's probably all the orphanage had to offer him. His bright, blue eyes shine bright from behind his scruffy blonde hair and there's dirt smudged across his face, arms, and knees. "What's your name, Kid?" Bucky finally asks.

The shy boy looks at him hesitantly.

"What? I'm not going to bite your head off, Punk," Bucky elbows him and smirks, trying to put the edgy kid at ease.

The kid pauses before he answers. "Steve," he says so quietly Bucky nearly missed it.

"Nice to meet you Steve. My name's Bucky," he nods and takes a bite of the sandwich. "Thanks for the grub."

Steve silently nods back.

Over the next couple weeks, Bucky finds himself keeping an eye on Steve and Steve has been following Bucky all over the place. It suddenly hits Bucky one day why, out of all the kids in this place, he's become so attached to Steve; he reminds him of Henry. The kid is always happy and doing something. His face usually smudged with dirt, he's quite shy and reserved. It's taken Bucky days to get him to say more than a few words to him, but even though he's shy, he's gutsy. Bucky has lost track of how many times he's had to step in to save Steve from a beating because of his gutsiness. Just like Henry.

"What was the reason this time?" Bucky sighs and pulls Steve into the bathroom to clean up a cut on his forehead. The kid uses his inhaler when he starts to wheeze.

"They were picking on Ben," Steve flinches when Bucky wipes the wet washcloth on the wound.

"So you decided that you were the one who had to step in and take on those goons?" Bucky shoves his thumb out the window to the gang of boys outside.

"Someone had to," Steve shrugs and looks out the window. He's about to run out the door when the bullies start to shove some other kids out of the sandbox, but Bucky grabs him by the back of his shirt and drags him back.

"Hold it," Bucky orders. "Let it go, Kid."

"I'm not a kid," Steve shrugs his shirt out of Bucky's grip. "Those guys can't just kick those other fellas out."

"You need to settle down or you won't live to see your next birthday, Punk," Bucky sighs and continues to try to clean Steve up.

"My birthday is in a couple of weeks," Steve smiles.

"Yeah?" Bucky smirks, happy to have Steve momentarily distracted from running into another fight. "How old are ya gonna be?"

"Six," Steve beams proudly.

"Six?" Bucky looks at Steve. "Geez you're a baby."

"Hey, I told you, I'm not a baby," Steve frowns. "I can take care of myself."

"Yeah, after seeing how you handled those guys back there, I'm _sure_ you can take care of yourself," Bucky answers sarcastically.

"I had those jerks on the ropes," Steve grumbles.

"Huh," Bucky laughs. "Well, all I can say is that it's a good thing I'm here now. I'm ten and much older and wiser than you are."

"I've been here for almost six months now and I've managed just fine without you," Steve frowns.

"But don'tcha ever get tired of fighting, Stevie?" Bucky frowns. "Don'tcha ever wish you could just do nothing and run away?"

"Sometimes you don't have a choice," Steve shrugs. "I've had to fight for my whole life, Buck. If you start running, they'll never let you stop." Something in the tone of his voice tells Bucky that he's not talking about just throwing punches.

"Why are you here, Steve?" Bucky asks and Steve just sits silently for a moment.

"I'm here because my parents are gone," Steve mumbles, but Bucky stays silent, waiting for him to elaborate. Steve sighs. "My dad walked out on me and my mom when I was a baby," Steve finally answers. "I guess I was real sick when I was born and things were...difficult. So, he left. Said he couldn't handle us anymore. It was just me and my mom for a long time. She took care of me and brought me to the doctor a lot. A couple times I had to stay at the hospital. I remember her crying because the doctors said I might not make it. She told me that I had to fight. I had to try to get better for her."

"After I got better my mom met another guy, Nathan, who worked at the hospital and she married him. When they were dating, he took care of us and my mom looked happy for the first time in a long time, but then, a few weeks after they got married, everything changed. My mom would be out at the store and just me and Nathan would be home. The first time it happened, I accidentally broke one of his trophies in his den. I just wanted to look at it, but he was mad. Real mad. He grabbed me and hit me. I tried to fight back, but he was too strong," Steve diverts his gaze to the floor as if he's the one who should be ashamed.

"He told me that he only wanted my mom, not me. That I was baggage, whatever that means," The little boy's face twists, hurt by the memory even though he doesn't know what 'baggage' means, but he figures it's nothing nice.

"He said that I'd better not mess anything up between him and my mom by telling her about anything that happened while she was away because he was her one chance to be happy again after I wrecked everything with her first marriage. So I stayed quiet. I didn't say a word," Steve sniffs looks up at Bucky with tears filling his eyes. "I tried to tell him that I didn't say anything. I swear I didn't," he cries as if he were trying to convince his step-father all over again. All Bucky can do is just hug him tightly in his arms.

"She saw the bruises on my arm and asked me about it. I lied about what had happened, but she found out. I lied to her," Steve cries as if that's the part that hurts him the most. The fact that he lied to the one person that he cared about the most. "She asked Nathan about it and they started shouting at each other. That's when he started hitting her. I tried to stop him, but he pushed me away. That's when my mom hit him back and he pulled out his gun," Steve pauses, not able to tell Bucky anymore.

"The neighbors had called the police when they heard the shouting," Steve says quietly and Bucky releases him from his grip. "They took Nathan to jail and brought me here."

"Stevie," Bucky doesn't know what to say.

"That's why I fight, Buck," Steve turns his face from Bucky. "It's not because I want to. I don't _want_ to fight anyone, but people like Nathan and those guys out there; they're bullies and I don't like bullies."

"Alright," Bucky nods. "I get it, Stevie. I get it."

* * *

"Steve?" Bucky whispers late one evening. "Stevie, you awake?"

"Mm-hmm," Steve mumbles on his side from his spot on the floor beside Bucky in the boy's sleeping quarters.

"Hey, I'm serious. Are you listening?" Bucky pokes him.

"Yeah," Steve mumbles and rolls over, but never opens his eyes. " 'M listening."

"Steve," Bucky elbows the little kid in the side.

"Ow, yeah," Steve grumbles and sits up on his elbow, rubbing his eyes. "I'm up. What is it?"

"I just... I wanted to let you know that I really care a lot about you. You've kind of become like a little brother to me over the last few weeks."

"You needed to tell me this at 2am?" Steve asks.

"Forget it, Bucky gives him a frustrated look and rolls over to go to bed.

"Bucky," Steve frowns. "Hey, I'm sorry. I feel the same way," Steve scoots closer to Bucky.

"Yeah?" Bucky asks.

"Yeah, Bucky," Steve yawns. "I don't have any family left and, well, I guess I just figured that you were my family now."

Bucky just looks at the little blonde curled on his side next to him and smirks. Steve is already starting to drift off again and Bucky doesn't have the heart to wake him up to tell him that he's leaving tomorrow. He can't stay here and, after squirreling away food and supplies for the last few weeks, he's finally ready to escape this place. Maybe it's best he doesn't tell him anyway.

It kills him to leave Steve behind, but he's better off here. Bucky doesn't have any way to take care of himself, let alone Steve who is much younger and has health problems. He needs medicine and Bucky can't give that to him. He has to go on his own.

The next morning, when the sun is just starting to rise, Bucky sneaks away. He makes it to the outer edge of the fence in the courtyard and he starts to climb.

"Where are you going?" Bucky nearly drops to the ground when the little voice scares him.

"Steve," He sighs in relief that it's just Steve and not one of the adults. "What the hell are you doing out here?"

"Are you leaving?" Steve asks, confused.

"I can't stay here anymore, Steve," Bucky frowns. "I need to get back out on my own again. I'm going crazy in here."

"So you were just going to leave without even saying anything?" Steve can't help but look a little hurt.

"Don't look at me like that, Punk," Bucky sighs when he sees how sad Steve looks. "I was going to tell you last night. I need to get out of here. Go back inside. The Sisters will watch over you and make sure you get the medicine and care you need. I can't give you that where I'm going."

Steve watches silently as Bucky climbs over the fence and hops down onto the other side. "I'm sorry," Bucky looks one last time at Steve. He starts to walk away when he hears the fence rattle and he turns to see the little boy climbing the fence.

"Steve," Bucky pauses. "Steve, what are you doing? Go back inside."

Steve ignores him and continues to climb.

"You're going to hurt yourself. Get down."

Steve says nothing and just keeps climbing, determined to make it over.

"Steve, will you just listen to me, you idiot?"

He makes it to the top of the fence, but he slips when he started to shift over to the other side.

"Steve!" Bucky runs back to the fence when Steve nearly drops, but grabs onto the fencing and holds tight. He can't get his footing back and Bucky nearly has a heart attack when he falls.

Bucky runs to catch him and the two boys end up in a pile on the ground.

"Are you okay?" Bucky picks himself off the ground and checks on Steve. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"We're family, Bucky," Steve frowns at him, hurt that he would even think of leaving without him. "You don't leave family behind."

"Steve, I told you, I won't be able to take care of you."

"Good thing I can take care of myself, then," Steve pants and takes a breath with his inhaler.

"Yeah, you're proving that more and more everyday that I know you," Bucky rolls his eyes.

"You're not leaving without me," Steve stands and the determined look in his eyes tells Bucky that he's not going to win this argument. "I'm with you, Bucky. Till the end of the line."

"Till the end of the line, huh?" Bucky sighs and Steve nods. "Ugh. Shoulda let the Giant pound you into the ground when I had the chance. I guess I'm paying for my choices now and I'm stuck with you."


	2. Chapter 2

**Let the Bucky and Steve adventure continue!**

 **Fight Inside - Chapter 2**

"This way, Steve," Bucky pulls the younger boy down a dark alleyway. "Go, go, go!" He urges Steve as he picks up speed.

"Too fast, Bucky!" Steve pants, struggling to keep up with the older, taller boy.

"I told you, you should've waited for me back home," Bucky snaps.

"I just wanted to help," Steve replies sadly and Bucky instantly knows he's hurt Steve's feelings.

"Sorry, Punk. I know you wanted to help, but right now, we gotta keep moving." The rain is pouring down on them as they dash down the road through the puddles. Flashing red and blue lights reflect off of the gray, wet bricks of the buildings. Bucky skids to a stop before pulling himself and Steve behind a rusted dumpster as a squad car slowly drives down the street near the alley, shining it's search light in their direction. Bucky holds his breath when the light stops and illuminates the alley.

"Did they see us?" Steve coughs and shivers in the chilly night air.

"It looks like they're moving along," Bucky sighs in relief. "C'mon. We need to get back home. They're going to be looking for us for the rest of the night."

The two boys wait for another second before they run down the alley, only to stop short when they run straight into an officer.

"Where do you think you two are going?" the Officer grabs Bucky by the arm when he recognizes him. "You two are the ones that were shoplifting from the store down the road."

"Run Steve!" Bucky shouts.

"Let him go," Steve stands his ground.

"You need to come with me, Son," The officer moves up the hill toward Steve with Bucky in tow as he fights against the man's hold.

"Steve, stop being an idiot and run!"

Steve thinks fast and tips a nearby trash can on it's side and pushes it down the hill toward the officer. The can rolls down the hill and knocks the officer's feet out from under him, causing him to lose his grip on Bucky's arm. Bucky doesn't miss a beat and he runs up to Steve, grabbing his hand as they run away as fast as they can.

"Bet you're glad you brought me with now," Steve grins.

"Don't get cocky, Punk," Buck smirks.

The whole way home, they do their best to stay hidden by taking back routes and ducking behind cars, alleys, and whatever else they can find to keep out of sight. They finally make it back to the condemned apartment buildings at the edge of town that they've set up camp in.

The building is old, abandoned, drafty, and not any place for a pair of kids to live, but it offers some shelter from the unusually chilly, rainy weather. They've been holed up in the rickety building for the last few weeks and have started to make it their own. They've collected discarded clothes, plates, cups, a few sets of mismatched silverware, and they have a small stash of food that they've worked all week to build up by stealing from some of the surrounding grocery and drug stores.

The apartment works well for them because it's high up, has the least amount of broken windows, and the wooden floor was the most intact with only a few boards sticking up. It wasn't much, but it was theirs and it was home.

"That was too close," Bucky sighs as the two drenched boys drag themselves into the old apartment and Bucky locks the door behind them. Steve nods and sneezes, relieved that they made it.

"Way too close," Steve sits against the wall and shivers.

"But we managed to hang onto the haul," Bucky smirks and pulls out a small bag of items they stole from the convenience store. Steve frowns at the bag and Bucky knows what he's thinking. "Look, Stevie. I don't like the idea of stealing anymore than you do, but we gotta survive out here. We only take what we need. Someday, when we're able to, we'll make it up to them." Bucky throws Steve a pair of dry clothes.

"Alight," Steve sighs and catches the clothes.

"Now stop looking so depressed. Tonight, we're eating good," Bucky pulls out a small can of soup from the bag along with some crackers.

Steve pulls out the can opener from the drawer in the kitchen and hands it to Bucky. He divides the soup between a pair of dented, metal cups and splits the package of crackers.

"Cheers, Stevie," Bucky holds up his cup of soup and Steve does the same. "It'd be better if it was warm."

"But still delicious," Steve smiles and sips down the cold soup. Bucky rolls his eyes at Steve's ever burning optimism, but turns serious when Steve sneezes again.

"You feeling okay, Steve?" Bucky frowns and presses a hand to Steve's forehead.

"I'm fine, Bucky," Steve swats his hand away. "Stop worryin' all the time." Bucky frowns, but is satisfied that Steve doesn't have a fever.

"I'll stop worryin' when you stop giving me reasons to worry," Bucky smirks and Steve just rolls his eyes at him. "Look, Steve, I have a confession to make."

"What did you do?" Steve asks suspiciously.

"I know I promised we'd only take what we needed from the stores, but I grabbed something extra for you tonight - Just this one time," Bucky shuffles through the bag and pulls out a chocolate bar. "Happy birthday, Stevie," Bucky smiles.

"Thanks, Bucky," Steve beams.

"Sorry it's not more," Bucky shrugs.

"It's great," Steve takes the bar and splits it in half and offers it to his friend.

"Nope, it's all yours," Bucky shakes his head, but Steve takes his arm and places the chocolate bar in his hand like he did back at the orphanage with the sandwich.

"It's my birthday and I say we split it," Steve replies firmly.

"Are you ever going to listen to anything I tell you to do?" Bucky sighs.

"Nope," Steve shakes his head and eats his half of the candy bar.

The boys finish off their dessert and turn in for the night. They pull out the only blanket they own from the closet and lay down on a scrappy rug on the floor.

"Night, Punk," Bucky whispers as he starts to fall asleep.

"Night, Jerk," Steve yawns in response.

Bucky wakes with a start a few hours later when the sound of a siren and red and blue lights flash across the wall. He is on his feet and at the window in seconds, holding his breath that the lights aren't there for them. On the street below, Bucky spies a squad car racing down the empty city street in the opposite direction of their home.

Satisfied that he and Steve haven't been discovered from their shoplifting adventure earlier that day, Bucky returns to his spot next to Steve who is still sleeping even with the commotion outside. He looks down at his friend and is worried when he sees how flushed Steve looks.

"Stevie?" Bucky whispers, checking to see if Steve was awake, but Steve doesn't stir. He lays a hand on Steve's forehead again and his heart sinks when he feels the heat radiating from his friend. "Steve," Bucky shakes Steve and he coughs as he slowly opens his feverish, blue eyes.

"Bucky?" Steve blinks a few times. "What time s'it?"

"It's late. You're burning up," Bucky frowns. "This is why I wanted you to stay home, Steve."

"Be better in the mornin'," Steve closes his eyes again. "Jus need some sleep."

Bucky tucks the blanket tighter around his friend and gets up and pulls out a small cloth from the pantry. He holds it out one of the broken windows to catch some of the rain that's still falling outside.

"Don't do this to me, Stevie," Bucky sighs as he lays the cool, damp washcloth over Steve's forehead.

Bucky stays up and continues to re-wet the washcloth in the cold rain, but, despite his best efforts, Steve's fever is getting worse. He's been up for hours, hoping that the fever would break. He starts nodding off when he's startled by Steve waking up with a coughing fit.

"Steve," Bucky runs over to the kitchen and grabs Steve's inhaler off of the counter. "Take a breath, Kid," Bucky hands him the inhaler, but finds that there's only a small amount of medicine left. Just enough to take the edge off of his asthma attack.

"Bucky," Steve wheezes and starts to panic.

"It's okay, Stevie," Bucky tries to calm him down and hide his own fear. "Just relax and breathe."

Steve nods and puts on a brave front, but Bucky knows he's just as scared as he is right now. After a tense hour, Bucky is relieved when Steve's coughing decreases.

"Get some sleep, Stevie," Bucky tries to calm Steve enough that he can get some rest. His coughing is better, but he's still wheezing badly and his fever is still high. "I'm going to go get you some more medicine."

"No Bucky," Steve rasps. "You can't. They'll catch you."

"Steve, you need more medicine. You're not going to last like this," Bucky starts to walk to the door.

Steve sits up to follow Bucky and starts coughing again.

"Steve," Bucky frowns. "Stop being a stubborn jerk and lay down. You can't follow me everywhere."

"I can try," Steve refuses to let him leave without him.

"Alright, alright, just lay back down before you kill yourself," Bucky sighs in surrender and pulls Steve back to the rug on the floor.

"Promise you won't go?" Steve lays down and Bucky sits next to him.

"I won't. I'll stay here, Steve."

* * *

"Steve?" Bucky leans over to see if he's sleeping. Steve doesn't answer and Bucky carefully stands and grabs his wet coat and hat off of the wall as he sneaks toward the door. "Sorry, Steve," Bucky frowns as he quietly opens the front door. He feels guilty leaving Steve and for breaking his promise, but Steve needs medicine. "I'll be back."

He quietly latches the door and sneaks down the stairs and runs back out into the cold, city street. It's very early in the morning, but there are still a couple people out and about. He tugs his hat down to hide his face when he feels their eyes linger on him, questioning why a kid is out on the street at this hour. He pushes forward and tries to remain as inconspicuous as he can.

Bucky finally arrives at the small drug store. He knows he's got to do this smart. If he gets caught, he'll for sure go to juvenile detention for being a runaway and for stealing. That would be the end of everything. Bucky would have a record and never be able to get work in the city. No one wants a runaway, ex-convict, no matter how small the crime, to work for them. He would be branded for life. Even worse, Steve would be left in that dilapidated apartment to fend for himself if Bucky couldn't make it back to him. It would be a death sentence for both of them.

With the weight of the world on his shoulders, he sits and waits out of sight in front of a drug store. Waiting, waiting, waiting, until he finally spots what he's been looking for. A man, wrapped up in his own business quickly walks down the sidewalk, never noticing the young boy. The man opens the door to the store and Bucky follows him in. The clerk glances over at the two of them, eyeing Bucky. Seeing the suspicion in the employee's eyes, he quickly catches up to the man and walks close enough to him that it looks like he belongs with him.

Not completely convinced, the employee continues to watch and Bucky starts to get nervous. He decides he's got to sell this and convince this guy, otherwise he's done for.

"Hey, Mister," Bucky stops next to the stranger he followed in and shows him a soda and puts his best 'cute little boy' face on. He crosses his fingers that if the employee sees him interacting with the man it will sell the story that he belongs with him. "Have you ever had this soda before?"

"No, is it good?" the man humors the kid.

"I dunno. I've never had it, but it looks good, huh?" Bucky smiles. He glance back to the counter and is relieved to see the clerk has taken his attention off of him to help another customer.

"Yeah, looks great," The Man nods and catches Bucky glancing back to the store clerk. "Where are you parents, Kid?"

"Um, they're out in the car, waiting for me," Bucky is caught off guard by the question. "I just wanted a snack and they stopped here for me."

"Okay," the Man answers and Bucky knows he doesn't buy his story. "Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"No, Mister," Bucky puts the soda back on the shelf and smiles. "I'm fine. Thanks."

Bucky quickly walks away toward the aisle where the medicine is kept. He searches the shelves for anything that looks like it might help Steve. He grabs a thermometer, an inhaler, a fever reducer, some bottles of water and a couple bottles of antibiotics and stuffs them into his jacket pocket.

As slowly and as casually as he can, he makes his way to the door to leave. He tries not to look nervous, but he feels like all eyes in the store are on him. The back of his neck burns and he swears he must be beat red, advertising his guilt to the world.

" _Keep it together, Barnes,_ " he thinks to himself. " _Steve is depending on you."_

The door seems as though it's a million miles away, but he finally reaches the exit and goes to push the door open.

"Hey! Kid!" The store clerk shouts and Bucky freezes for a moment, his mind racing between fight or flight. He chooses flight. "Get back here you little thief!" The clerk grabs Bucky by the back of his shirt and pulls him back into the store. Bucky's heart races. This is it. He's failed Steve. He's been caught and they're going to take him away. His worst fear is unfolding before his very eyes.

"Hey, ease up on the Boy," the Man Bucky had talked to before comes up and frowns at the clerk.

"This Kid is stealing from me," the Clerk argues. "Lets see what you've got in your pockets, you little rat." The Clerk starts to pull out the bottles of medicine and the thermometer and the Man looks at Bucky with a bit of shock on his face. He was expecting the store clerk to pull out sodas or snacks, but instead he pulls out medicine and water.

"Why are you stealing this stuff, Kid?" the Man kneels next to Bucky. "Is someone in trouble? Who needs this medicine?"

Bucky keeps quiet and keeps his eyes on the floor.

"We can help if someone you know is sick," the Man tries to reason with him, but Bucky doesn't trust him. He doesn't trust any adults. They don't understand. They'll take him and Steve back to the orphanage or throw him in juvenile detention. "Look, he's just a kid," the Man directs his attention to the store clerk. "I'm sure we can work something out. The police don't need to get involved."

"He tried to steal from me," the Clerk frowns at Bucky.

"But you caught him. You didn't lose anything. Here," the Man pulls out a few bills from his wallet to pay for the items Bucky had grabbed and Bucky looks up at the man, confused as to why this stranger is helping him.

"Fine, but you don't ever step back into this store, Punk. You hear me?" The Clerk collects his money and points and angry finger at Bucky who quickly grabs his items off the counter and runs out the door. All he can think of is that he has to get back to Steve. He's been gone far longer than he intended and he needs to get back.

"Wait!" the Man shouts and rushes out the door after Bucky as he watches the Kid run down the road.

Bucky doesn't stop. He just runs down the street as fast as he can. Gripping his precious cargo tightly in his arms, he pounds down the sidewalk. He doesn't even bother to take the back streets home to avoid being seen. He takes the most direct route back home.

There are a couple close calls. A patrol car drives by and Bucky barely has time to duck behind a car as the officer drives by. Out of breathe and sweating from running, he peers out from behind the car. Satisfied that he's clear, he runs all the way home.

He finally makes it back to the building. His legs burn as he takes the stairs two at a time to make it up to the apartment.

"Steve," he pants as he opens the door and sighs in relief to find Steve still sleeping where he had left him. "Steve, wake up. I did it. I got some medicine for you," But Steve doesn't stir from his spot on the floor. "Steve!" Bucky shakes him frantically and Steve blearily opens his eyes. "Hey. Look at me."

"Don't feel so good, Bucky," Steve mumbles and closes his eyes.

"It's okay, Stevie. I've got some medicine for you," Bucky grabs the bottles off the floor. "But you gotta take them to help make you feel better." He hands Steve one of the tablets and grabs a cup off the counter and fills it with some water from the bottles. He pulls Steve up from the floor and he lethargically takes the cup from Bucky.

"Drink it," Bucky pushes the cup up in Steve's hands and he takes the medicine, grimacing at the bitter taste, before he lays back down. "You gotta keep fighting, Steve," Bucky sighs to himself. For the first time, Bucky prays Steve will keep fighting.

"This is why you stole the medicine?" The Man asks from the door way, startling Bucky. In his haste to get home, he didn't even remember to close the door. The young boy is on his feet and spins around to face the man. "Don't worry. I'm not here to bust you, Kid," the Man tries to put Bucky as ease when he sees the panic on his face. He nods over to Steve. "Your friend isn't looking very well."

Bucky watches the Man for a moment. He did help him at the store, but he still doesn't know if he should trust him. He doesn't even know who he is. He could be lying about not busting him. Adults always lied. Told their kids everything would be okay. That they didn't need to worry. Why should this man be any different?

"How did you find me?" Bucky stands between Steve and the Stranger.

"I followed you from the store."

"Why?"

"Because you looked like you needed help," Howard frowns. "And judging by how sick your friend looks, it looks like I was right."

"We're fine. I've got the medicine and I can take care of him."

"Are you sure about that?" The Man glances down at the dirty blanket and the broken down apartment. Bucky really isn't sure, but he stands his ground. "Just, let me look at him for you. Maybe I can help him."

Bucky pauses. This man did bail him our at the store. He'd be on his way to lock up if it weren't for him. He glances back to Steve as he sleeps on the floor. He's sick. Really sick and Bucky begins to question if he'll really be able to help him or not. Slowly, he turns back to the man and nods. He walks in and kneels next to Steve and lays a hand on his forehead.

"Hey Kid," the Man greets when Steve opens his eyes at the Stranger. Startled, he sits up and tries to scoot away quickly, looking for Bucky.

"It's okay," Bucky stops Steve and grabs his arm. He shifts his eyes from Steve up to the Man. "He's going to help us. Right, Mister?"

He nods to reassure Bucky before turning back to Steve. "What's your name, Buddy?"

"Steve," He answers timidly, trusting Bucky that this guy is not a threat.

"Nice to meet you, Steve. My name's Howard Stark," he introduces himself and wraps the blanket around him and hands him the thermometer. "And I never got your name." He looks over to Bucky.

"Bucky," he replies.

"Nice to meet you, Bucky," Howard nods before he turns back to Steve, taking the thermometer from him and frowning at the number he finds. "How old are you Steve?"

"Five," Steve answers sheepishly as he holds up five fingers from under the blanket.

"Six," Bucky corrects and smiles at his friend. "You turned six yesterday, remember?"

"Right. I'm six," Steve holds up his other hand to add another finger.

"Well, Happy Birthday," Howard laughs at Steve.

"Thank you," Steve smiles weakly.

Bucky watches as Howard continues to check his friend.

"Why are you helping us, Mr. Stark?" Bucky finally asks.

"Because I believe in being a decent human," Howard shrugs. "And I've got a boy about your age. I'd want someone to help him too if he was in trouble."

"Do you have a lot of kids?" Bucky asks, curious to know more about this man.

"No. Just my one boy, Howard Jr. You can lay back down, Steve," Howard smiles and Steve is relieved since he was starting to fall asleep sitting up. Howard pulls the thread-worn blanket back over him and turns back to Bucky. "Your friend is pretty sick, Bucky. He needs a doctor."

"No. No doctors. No hospitals," Bucky shakes his head. "They'll take us back to the orphanage or worse."

Howard studies Bucky for a moment before he sighs. "Okay. No hospitals. But he does still need a doctor. Don't worry, I have someone who can help us," Howard replies before Bucky can respond when he sees him start to get edgy again. "Both of you can come back to my house and the doctor will meet us there. No hospital. No tricks."

Bucky tries to make a decision. It's risky going to this man's house.

"You can trust me, Bucky. You won't go back to the orphanage."

"You swear," Bucky frowns.

"I swear," Howard nods and Bucky agrees.

Howard wraps Steve up in the scrappy blanket and scoops him up off of the floor.

"Where we goin', Buck?" Steve asks groggily as they walk down the stairs.

"We're going to go to Mr. Stark's house, Stevie," Bucky answers as he follows Howard out to the car sitting on the street. The fancy Rolls Royce looks completely out of place among the dirty, boarded up buildings surrounding it.

Howard lays Steve in the back set and Bucky sits next to him. They drive across town and Bucky's eyes go wide at the big, expensive houses with well manicured lawns that pass boy. Not a single house has a single brick out of place.

The shiny car drives through the iron-rod gates with a big "S" on both sides that close and lock behind them. Once they're through the gate, they drive up a brick-paved driveway to one of the biggest houses on the street.

"This is your house?" Bucky asks, suddenly aware of how dirty his clothes are as he stares at the immaculate house through the car window.

"Yup. Home sweet Home," Howard smiles and pulls Steve out from where he's sleeping on the back seat.

Bucky follows Howard up the path to the front door where he opens the heavy, oak door.

"Anna! I'm home!" He calls into the huge house. Bucky looks around with wide eyes at the inside of the house and everything is pristine. The banister on the large stair case shines in the sun that shines down from the huge skylight in the entry. The wood floors are spotless and the expensive persian rugs on the floor look like they've never had a foot step on them. The walls are all pure white without a single finger print on them and big, expensive pieces of art hang from them.

"Howard Stark," Anna scolds when she sees her husband in the entry way, holding something in the dirty blanket. "I swear, if you brought another mangy dog home…" Anna's words fall short when she sees Bucky peering out from behind Howard. "Who is this?" she looks to her husband for answers.

"Anna, this is my friend Bucky," Howard steps away and Bucky blushes a little.

"Ma'am," Bucky waves sheepishly.

"And this is Bucky's friend, Steve," Howard looks down at the blanket and Anna's face turns to a very worried look when she sees the sick little boy her husband's arms.

"Howard," Anna starts.

"Please call Dr. Davis and see if he can come over right away," Howard gives her a look that tells Anna that this is important.

She nods and goes into the kitchen to use the phone while Howard brings Bucky and Steve to one of the spare bedrooms. They pass through the living room where the furniture is plush and fancy. Not a single pillow out of place. The huge, open windows allow the rising sun to shine through and warm the room.

The extra bedroom is smaller than the other rooms they walked through, but its' still huge. Probably about the size of the entire apartment Steve and Bucky had been living in. Howard lays Steve on the bed and discards the thread-bare blanket and replaces it with the thick, wool blanket on the bed.

"There's a bathroom back there and some washcloths on the counter," Howard points over to a door and Bucky nods.

"Howard, Dr. Davis is down the street at the Mason's and he'll be here soon," Anna frowns and sits next to Steve on the bed. She lays her hand against his cheek, her instincts as a mother kicking in. "Oh Howard, he's burning up," Anna looks at her husband, concern written all over her face.

"I know," Howard frowns and takes the washcloth from Bucky when doorbell rings.

"Lets go bring the doctor up, Bucky," Howard stands and hands the washcloth to Anna and she lays it across Steve's forehead.

The two of them walk back to the entry to greet the doctor. Howard introduces Bucky to him and he explains the situation to the doctor. He nods in understanding and they take him back to the guest room where Anna is talking to Steve after he'd woken up.

"This is our patient?" Dr. Davis smiles at Steve and Anna nods. "Lets get you checked out, Young Man."

Bucky stays with Steve while the doctor does his exam and Anna pulls Howard out into the hallway.

"I talked with Steve for a little bit while you were downstairs with the doctor. Those boys have been living on the street for months, Howard," Anna whispers. "No one is taking care of them."

"I know Anna," Howard sighs. "I found Bucky early this morning on my way home from work. He was trying to steal medicine for his friend. I followed him back to where they've been living and convinced him to let me bring Steve back here to have the doctor check him out."

"We have to do something," Anna looks back to the two boys in the guest room.

"I promised him that he wouldn't go back to the orphanage, Anna," Howard frowns.

"They can't keep living on the streets, Howard," Anna shakes her head, struggling to understand how these boys ended up where they are, while Howard just crosses his arms, trying to decide what to do. "They're just children. That little boy can't be more than five years old. Someone needs to take care of them."

"He actually just turned six," Howard smirks back into the room at Steve.

"Howard," Anna sighs and he turns back to her to try to appease his wife.

"Lets make sure that Dr. Davis can help Steve and then we'll make a decision," Howard takes his wife in his arms and holds her tight. "We'll figure out something."

The two of them stop talking when the Doctor finishes and comes out to talk to them.

"You have a very sick young man on your hands, Mr. Stark," Dr. Davis sighs.

"Is he going to be okay?" Howard frowns.

"I think if we can get his fever to break with some rest and medicine, he'll be fine. Make sure he takes this twice a day," he hands Howard a bottle of medicine.

"Thank you, Doctor," Howard nods.

"They're lucky you found them, Howard," Dr. Davis shakes his hand and nods to Anna on his way out.

"Bucky," Anna calls quietly from the doorway. "How about we let Steve rest and I'll find you something to eat?"

Bucky pauses and looks back at Steve who is already drifting under the big blanket.

"Go get some grub, Buck," Steve yawns. "I'll be fine." Bucky nods and follows Anna down into the kitchen where she makes him a sandwich.

"You know, I have a son that's about your age," Anna smiles as she sits at the table with Bucky while he eats.

"Mr. Stark told me," Bucky nods. "Where is he?"

"He's away on a school trip right now, but he'll be back in a couple days. I'm sure he'd love to meet both you and Steve if you are still here with us. Here, this is a picture of him," Anna pulls a photo from the refrigerator and shows it to Bucky.

The little boy looks almost exactly like Howard. He's standing next to Anna in the photo on the beach next to a big sand castle they built. "You must really love him a lot," Bucky looks at the picture and remembers his own mother.

"I do. I can't imagine life without him," she nods and looks at the picture before returning it to the fridge. "Bucky, Steve told me that you two have been living on your own for a while now. Where are your parents?"

 _Steve_ , Bucky grumbles in his head. The kid is too friendly. Too trusting. He doesn't know when to stay quiet.

"I don't have any parents," Bucky answers, wanting to keep his answers plain and simple.

"What about Steve?" Anna asks softly, but Bucky just shakes his head. "Who takes care of you?"

"We take care of each other," Bucky takes another bite of the sandwich.

"That sounds very difficult," Anna frowns.

"We scrape by," Bucky shrugs. "Can I go sit with Steve again?" Bucky asks. Anna was about to try to see if she could find out more about the boys, but instead nods and Bucky leaves to go back up to Steve's room.

The day goes by slowly and Steve sleeps for most of it. Every once in a while Bucky hears Anna walk by to check on them. He likes her. She's very sweet and kind, much like his own mother was. He likes Howard too. He is hard working, compassionate, and cares fiercely for his family. He also reminds him of his father, of the man he knew before his family had lost everything.

"I thought you might like some dinner," Anna offers a bowl of soup to Bucky.

"Thank you, Ma'am," Bucky nods and takes the bowl.

"This is for Steve if he wakes up and is hungry," Anna sets second bowl on the nightstand.

"Thank you. Both you and Mr. Stark," he pauses. "for everything." Anna smiles and nods before she leaves.

Bucky looks down at the warm soup in the delicate, glass bowl, remembering the cold soup he and Steve had the night before.

"Bucky?" Steve coughs and Bucky is pulled from his thoughts.

"Hey, Steve," Bucky sits up. "How are you feeling?"

"Yucky," Steve grumbles.

"You look like you feel yucky," Bucky huffs out a small laugh. "Are you hungry?" Steve shakes his head. "You should try to eat something," Bucky frowns and helps Steve to sit up. "Miss Anna brought you some soup."

"What about you?" Steve frowns.

"I've got some too," Bucky shows Steve his bowl. Satisfied that Bucky has food too, Steve works on his bowl of soup.

"Are you going to eat?" Steve asks when he notices that Bucky isn't eating.

"Yeah, I'm going to eat too," Bucky takes a spoonful of the warm soup. "See? I told you soup was better warm," Bucky jokes and Steve smiles.

"How was the soup?" Howard quietly walks into the room after the boys finished their meal.

"Very good. Thank you, Mr. Stark," Bucky smiles.

"Anna's quite the cook," Howard takes the bowls and sets them on the dresser. He pours a spoonful of the medicine from Dr. Davis from the bottle on the dresser and walks back over to Steve. "Are you ready for some medicine, Steve?"

Steve frowns and covers his mouth with his hands.

"It will help you feel better," Howard smiles at Steve, but he shakes his head. "Got any tricks for me here, Bucky?" Howard laughs and looks to the older boy for help. Bucky takes the spoon and sits next to Steve on the bed.

"He's stubborn," Bucky frowns at Steve who shoots him a look from behind his hands. "Don't look at me like that. You know you're pig-headed."

"Am not," Steve pouts and sticks his tongue out at Bucky immediately shoves the spoonful of medicine into his mouth.

"That was sneaky," Steve gags.

"That'll teach you to stick your tongue out at me," Bucky smirks smugly and Howard snickers at the two boys.

"Nice job," he high-fives Bucky. "See you in the morning, Boys." Howard turns on the lamp on the nightstand before he flips off the light and takes the bowls downstairs.

Anna comes up to check on the boys later that night and finds them both fast asleep on the bed.

* * *

Bucky squints at the harsh light as it streams in through the large bedroom window. It takes him a moment to remember where he is, but it all comes back to him when he sees Steve next to him. He gets up and wanders over to the dresser to grab Steve's medicine. He pours some of the liquid into the spoon on the dresser and walks back over to Steve. He's about to wake Steve up when he pauses to listen at a conversation coming from the kitchen down the hall.

"Anna, I promised them," Howard argues.

"Howard, you did a good thing. You probably saved that boy's life, but they can't keep living on the street. That slum is no place for them."

"If we take them back to the orphanage, they could be separated form each other. That would be the worst thing that you could do to those two boys. You saw the way Bucky cares about Steve and Bucky means the world to Steve. They're all they have, Anna," Howard sighs.

"I know you think you can fix everything, Howard, but you can't fix this. You helped them this time, but who's going to help them the next time? Those boys need someone who can get them the care they need long term." Bucky freezes at that point in the conversation.

"Steve," Bucky shakes his friend and Steve groggily opens his eyes. "Here, take your medicine, quick."

"What's the rush, Bucky?" Steve asks groggily.

"We have to go. Hurry up." Steve takes the medicine and Bucky grabs his jacket and shoves the medicine, inhaler, and thermometer in his pockets. He quietly shuts the bedroom door before he goes back and pulls Steve out of the bed.

"Where are we going?" Steve asks, dazed by Bucky's rush. "I thought we were going to stay with Mr. Stark for a little while."

"We have to go. Come on," Bucky slides the window open and helps Steve out onto the roof. He follows out and leads them down to the edge where they climb down the drain pipe.

Bucky grabs Steve's hand and they run to the end of the driveway where they slip through the bars of the locked gate. They barely fit through the bars, but they make it to the other side when Bucky hears Howard calling.

"Bucky! Where are you going?" Howard calls and runs down the driveway.

"We're leaving before you take us back to the orphanage," Bucky frowns. "I heard you and Miss Anna talking down stairs. You promised."

"You were going to take us back to the orphanage?" Steve looks at Howard sadly.

"Boys," Howard frowns. "We just want what's best for you."

"Staying together is what's best for us. We trusted you," Bucky backs away slowly with Steve.

"I just want to help you. Steve is still sick. I don't want to take your o the orphanage, but the people there can help both of you."

"You don't understand," Bucky shakes his head. "Thank you for your help, Mr. Stark. I mean that, but Steve and I can take care of each other. We're not going to let them separate us. We're with each other," Bucky grabs Steve's hand. "Till the end of the line." With one last look, the two boys run down the street.

* * *

"After we left the house, we ran back to the apartment and gathered up everything we could and left. It wasn't safe to go back there. We had to leave it behind and find a new home, but we weren't worried. We were survivors and we knew that we would find a way." Steve finishes his story from his hospital bed.

It's been a couple days since they found Steve half-dead on the shore of the Potomac. After he'd woken up and recovered enough, Sam had some questions that he wanted answers to now that they weren't running for their lives from Hydra.

"That was the first couple of months after Bucky and I met."

"So you guys met in the orphanage, escaped together, lived on the streets when you were six and eleven," Sam starts to recap the story.

"Five and ten," Steve corrects. "Well, five and 3/4 and ten."

"Five and ten," Sam frowns. "Cause that's better. And then you randomly meet Howard Stark's father who saves your life, but then tries to put you back in the orphanage, so you run away and continue to live on the streets until you become self-sufficient adults, but instead of having a normal adult life like everyone else, your buddy goes to war, you volunteer for the Super Soldier Program, lose your best friend on a train, get your ass frozen, and then wake up in the future and join a band of super heroes only to find out later that your dead best friend is not dead, but rather a brain-washed master assassin who is trying to kill you?"

"In a nutshell," Steve nods and Sam just shakes his head. "Do you understand now why I have to find Bucky?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I do," Sam nods. He does understand. Probably more than Steve realizes. He knows what it's like to lose a brother and the more he hears about his and Bucky's friendship, the more it reminds him of his friendship with Riley. They were responsible for each other. No one else was going to take care of them. When he and Riley were up in the sky, their lives depended on each other. That's half the reason why he agreed to help Steve; because if he had a chance to get his best friend back, he'd go to the ends of the earth to do it.

'Till the end of the line,' pretty much sums it up and Sam knows that Steve means it when he says it. He'll do anything and give everything to get Bucky back. Hell, he nearly did give everything a few days ago when Bucky nearly killed him. One way or another, Steve is going to find him and get him back. So Sam agrees to help him.

"We'll find him, Steve."


	3. Chapter 3

**I am currently watching CA:TWS as I am editing this chapter and I am so excited for this story to start to proceed into Bucky and Steve's relationship after the movie. Their friendship and bond is such a compelling story and Marvel has done an amazing job setting the scene and building up to what will no doubt be an amazing progression in CA:CW. But, until the movie comes out, we can only imagine where the next phase in their relationship will go. That's where this chapter is leading us! Read on and thank you so much for all your reviews and kind words! I hope this next part lives up to your expectations!**

 **Fight Inside - Chapter 3**

After months of searching for Bucky, Sam had finally zeroed in on a possible location near the Saint Elias Mountain range in northern Canada. He reported his findings to Steve who was on his way back from a mission and discovered he was very close to the coordinates. He was on the move immediately, leaving Sam scrambling to catch up to him before he did something stupid…again.

"Steve!" Sam shouts over the comm-link. "Steve! What is your location?"

"20 clicks south of the river," Steve whispers.

"Why are you whispering?" Sam shouts.

"Sorry, Sam. Couldn't wait around," Steve whispers again and it sounds like he's running.

"Stop running. Stop running and stay where you are and wait for back up, Cap," Sam orders. "You cannot take on an entire Hydra army by yourself! You know how this ended the last time!"

"I can't risk missing this opportunity. Just get here as fast as you can," Steve's communication starts to break up with the threat of a storm moving in.

"Cap! Cap!" Sam's frustrated voice overlaps with the choppy signal from Steve. "Damn it. I swear to God, Steve, if I have to pull your half-dead ass back to the hospital again I'm going to kill you myself!" Sam shouts to the dead air on his communicator.

Steve has already proven the lengths he will go to to save Bucky and that worries Sam. He'll never make it to the coordinates before Steve does something dumb or gets himself killed and the likelihood of him being able to actually find Steve once the storm moves in is next to zero. So he does the only thing he can think of; he calls in back up.

"Avengers, come in. Can anyone hear me?"

"What's up, Feathers?" Tony's voice comes on the line.

"We have a problem."

"The last time you had a 'problem' Hydra was trying to blow up my Tower."

"It's not that kind of problem. We have a 'Steve-problem."

"Technically, Hydra trying to blow up my tower _was_ a 'Steve-problem.'"

"Tony."

"Fine, but seriously, is my Tower in any danger? I mean, I'm filthy rich, but I'd rather spend my money on something more fun than rebuilding the same tower over and over again."

"Your building is fine, Tony," Sam sighs.

"Good. So, when you say 'Steve-problem', do you mean like the time he accidentally ordered $2,500 worth of protein powder off of Amazon when he thought he would try online ordering and his living room was literally filled floor to ceiling with boxes of protein? Or is it like the day he found out about the Dodgers and nearly rioted? Or how about the time he got mad at us for laughing at him when he thought Apple products were products made with actual apples? Classic Steve," Tony laughs

"No, it's a 'Steve Problem' as in he's a stubborn, stupid, old man running off by himself, half-assed into woods filled with Hydra agents to save his brainwashed friend who just tried, and nearly succeeded, in killing him a few months ago by convincing him that they were best friends over 70 years ago."

"Hm, _that_ , unfortunately, also sounds like classic Steve. Where are you?"

"I'm leaving New York now and on my way to freezing my tail feathers off in the middle of nowhere in northern Canada. I had traced Winter Soldier near the Saint Elias Mountains. I've been tracking him for the last few weeks and found out he was picked up by one of the last remnants of Hydra after everything in DC went down. I sent Steve the coordinates and he was supposed to wait for me for backup, but, instead, decided to go in and take on a small army on his own."

"Alright. I'm on my way, but I'm not going to be there fast. Pepper and I just finished negotiating a business deal in LA."

"Just get over here as soon as you can. Something tells me we're going to need all the help we can get."

* * *

Steve has been searching the coordinates Sam had sent him for any sign of Bucky or Hydra, but hasn't found anything. He's about to lose hope when he works his way up to the top of a ridge and discovers a well hidden Hydra Camp splayed out across the forest floor below. Crouching down low to stay out of sight, he scans the terrain. There are countless tents and buildings set up and Hydra soldiers are weaving in and out of the pathways they've created under the protection of the trees.

He desperately searches the scene for any signs of Bucky, but finds none. He knows he's lingered in one spot for too long when he hears something shift behind him. He should have kept moving and he knows he's allowed his emotions to cloud is better judgement. Steve rolls out of the way just in time to dodge the metal fist before it crashes down into the frozen dirt, creating a sizable crater in the ground.

"Bucky!" Steve rolls onto his feet and defensively raises his shield, knowing that his old friend won't allow him the luxury of another mistake.

The Winter Soldier is stone faced and unflinching at the mention of his name and Steve knows he's got his work cut out for him. No doubt Hydra re-wiped his mind when they re-captured Bucky. Before Steve can get another word in, Bucky takes another swing at him. Steve's reflexes are lightning fast and he pulls his shield up to block the attack. Metal fist and Vibranium shield meet in an earth shattering collision, throwing the two men back in opposite directions. The ringing from the impact spreads through the forest, no doubt announcing his presence to the Hydra camp below.

"So much for covert," Steve groans as he starts to roll up to his feet from where he landed on his back in the snow.

Bucky recovers from the impact first and rushes back into the fight before Steve can get fully to his feet. Steve instinctively raises his shield again, but Bucky redirects his attack under the shield, hitting Steve in the midsection. The blow drops Steve to his knees, but he quickly swings his leg around to kick Bucky's feet out from under him. The Winter Soldier falls onto his back before he rolls his body back up from the ground. He lunges forward and tackles Steve around the waist, sending them both tumbling down a steep slope. They fall together, rolling down the hill, taking out stumps and rocks in their path while they punch, grab, and fight all the way down.

They finally land hard at the bottom of the slope and Steve manages to gain the upper hand, landing on top and pinning Bucky to the ground.

"Look at me, Bucky!" Steve orders, but the man just kicks Steve off of him. Steve gets his legs under him and skids backwards across the frozen ground. The two men face off and Steve knows he has to try to get through to his friend quickly. He can hear the Hydra soldiers coming up the ridge and they'll be here soon.

The Winter Soldier moves first, jumping up to grab a low hanging tree branch to swing himself forward to land a kick square in the middle of Steve's chest. Steve fall backwards, but uses his momentum to his advantage by somersaulting backwards, doing a full rotation back onto his feet. Bucky pursues Steve, not giving him any chance to rebound. He throws punch after punch and Steve works hard to stay ahead of the Winter Soldier.

"Bucky. It's me. Steve," he grunts while trying to keep up with the barrage of fists. "We've known each other since we were kids. We met at St. Mary's Orphanage in Brooklyn. We ran away and grew up with each other on the streets!"

Bucky doesn't reply. He simply continues his attack. Without a word, he abandons hand to hand combat and pulls out his hand gun and fires at Steve who raises his shield as he runs, blocking high and low as the bullets fly.

When the gun doesn't do the job, Bucky grabs his knives and jumps at Steve, swinging and slashing at him. Steve does his best to dodge the attacks, but doesn't escape unscathed. One of the blades catches his arm, slicing through his body armor and into his muscle. The open wound drips blood down his arm, staining the snow red, but Steve hardly takes the time to notice. Instead, he takes his shield and rams it into Bucky to push him away and put some distance between him and the deadly knives.

Bucky skids across the ground and charges again, unrelenting. Steve knows he's got to stop playing defense and start to make more strategic moves to gain some ground back. He blocks the knives with his shield while he throws punches and kicks of his own, forcing the Winter Soldier back. Steve finally gains some control of the battle back when he knocks the knives out of his hands and pins him between a rock wall and his shield.

"Look at me. You KNOW me!" Steve yells and pulls out a photo from a pocket in his uniform with one hand while he continues to hold the shield against Bucky with the other. "Look! This is you and me. This is us at the orphanage."

Bucky pauses, his training faltering for the first time. He stares at the picture and recognizes himself standing next to the scrawny blonde kid. They look happy. _He_ looks happy.

His stare shifts from the old, crinkled photo to Steve and there's a moment of recognition in his eyes, but it's too late. Steve looks behind him to see that the Hydra soldiers have arrived.

"It's time to stop fighting for them and start fighting for yourself. It's time to remember who you are, Buck," Steve's blue eyes drill into Bucky's as he shoves the old, worn photo back into his chest pocket.

"Destroy him!" the Hydra Commander orders as the troops charge in.

Steve glances back to Bucky one last time before he releases him and turns to attack the oncoming horde of Hydra soldiers. The unrelenting wave of soldiers crash against Steve's shield as he fights them off. Steve finds a hole in their defenses and takes advantage of the opportunity. He holds up his shield and runs with everything he has, bulldozing through the line.

He fights his way through and jumps up to a branch of an old, dead tree. With a show of strength and skill, Steve speeds up the tall tree, ducking and taking cover as the soldiers below fire their weapons up into the boughs of the dying, brittle Maple tree. Steve plants a small explosive high on the trunk before he leaps over to a neighboring tree. The force of the jump causes the weakened, bullet-ridden trunk to crack and crumble down onto Hydra soldiers below. The soldiers scatter as they try to escape the falling tree, but the explosive Steve planted goes off, sending burning tree bits flying through the air.

Chunks of tree and large branches are burning on the ground in the midst of chaos. There are dead Hydra soldiers peppered with tree shrapnel littering the ground while the ones who managed to stay alive trample over each other trying to get away from the flames and debris that are still flying. Bucky shields himself with his metal arm and makes eye contact with Steve from where he is perched up in the neighboring tree he had safely escaped to.

Steve leaps to another branch as he prepares to make his get-away, but his forward momentum is halted when something grabs onto his leg, pulling him back and slamming him down into the frozen ground. Pain explodes from his back and shoulder. Slowly, Steve starts to try to pick himself up. He's disoriented from the serious hit, but he manages to pick himself up.

Bucky takes a step toward Steve, but the Commander eyes him angrily over his shoulder, holding up his fist in a silent order to stand down. Bucky obeys and watches as Steve shakes his head, trying to refocus.

Steve glares, unflinching, while he watches the shadow of what grabbed him circle around through the smoke. He keeps his shield up and never lets it get behind him.

Suddenly, through the smoke, a metal tentacle rushes at him, connecting with his shield and knocking him off balance. He quickly spins around to regain his balance. He searches for the figure, but it's not where it was before. Another metal tentacle comes from behind and strikes him in his back, knocking him down to the ground. Steve braces his upper body on his palms, wide eyes searching for his attacker.

Another attack comes from his left and he raises his shield to block the arm only to have a second arm come at him and grab him around his neck, lifting him high up off of the ground. With one hand Steve grips the tentacle in an attempt to take the pressure off of his neck and with the other he raises his shield and strikes the metal arm. The machine sparks and Steve moves to hit it again, but a second tentacle flies through the air and locks onto his wrist that holds his shield, preventing him from landing another blow.

"The mighty Captain America," the voice mocks as it emerges from the smoke. "Not so tough when you don't have a team to back you up."

"I can take care of myself," Steve chokes and Bucky flinches at the statement.

"Keep that defiance," the voice practically laughs as a he emerges from the smoke. "It'll make this whole process much more enjoyable."

Steve's heart sinks when he sees a familiar enemy standing in front of him.

"Strucker," Steve growls.

"In the flesh," Strucker smiles wide.

"You know you didn't have to get all gussied up just for me," Steve nods to the contraption Strucker has strapped onto his back. It looks like a metal parachute with six arms extending from the back of the machine.

"I thought you might enjoy experiencing first hand the newest technology developed by our Hydra scientists," Strucker tightens the grip of the metal tentacle round Steve's neck.

"Doesn't look like new tech," Steve gasps. "Looks like you ran out of original ideas and decided to copy Dr. Octopus."

Strucker simply laughs.

"You do know that a Hydra is a dragon, not an octopus, right?" Steve snarks and sighs internally at how much he sounds l like Tony right now. "Don't know who you got to do your little logo, but they got it all wrong. You could change your slogan to 'cut off one tentacle, and one more will eventually regenerate and take it's place.'"

"Enough bantering," Strucker sends a third metal tentacle shooting up toward the Soldier.

"I take it you're not a fan of the slogan change," Steve chokes, but remains undaunted when the arm stops inches from his face and extents it's metal projections.

"Sleep well, Captain," Strucker grins when a white cloud sprays out from the center of the projections. Steve coughs and fights to keep his eyes open as the gas invades his lungs, but his vision goes dark and he falls limp in the metal arm's grip, his shield dropping to the forest floor.

"Restrain him," Strucker orders and drops Steve to the ground. Bucky watches, fighting the urge to shove the soldiers off of Steve as they quickly pull the unconscious Super Soldier's arms behind his back and lock them in a set of reinforced steel restraints. Once the restraints are set, one of tentacles snakes its way around Steve's waist and lifts him up off of the ground and carries him back to the base with what's left of the Hydra army.

Bucky stops and stares at the shield on the ground before he looks back as this man he thinks he's remembering is carried off.

* * *

"Rise and shine, Super Soldier," Steve can feel himself being hauled upright from the cold ground to his knees. He tries to throw his hands out to steady himself, but realizes they're locked behind his back. His vision is flickering in and out as he flirts with consciousness, but he decides against it when his head begins to throb and he can taste bile in the back of his throat. His eyes fall closed and he nearly pitches forward, but someone grabs him by a strap on his uniform and hauls him back up to his knees. "I said 'wake up', Captain. We need to have a chat."

"Bucky?" Steve blinks past the man holding him up when he sees his friend standing near the door of the room. Bucky stands unmoving as he looks at Steve. His exterior stoic and cold, but his eyes betray the concern lurking just below the surface. He remains apathetic, arms crossed and firmly planted at his post at the door.

"Where am I?" Steve groggily looks around the dark room. The walls are cinderblock and there are Hydra soldiers standing on guard. The floor beneath him is just the frozen, dirt ground lit up by a sliver of light shining through a small space in the wall behind him. The air inside is cold and stale and Steve can see his breath fog out with each exhale.

"You are a guest at one of the last remaining Hydra camps," Strucker steps out in front of Steve.

"How are you still alive, Strucker?" Steve frowns at the man as he looms over him

Strucker glares back at his old enemy. "Much like yourself, I am a survivor and I would be ruling over the world right now if it were not for you. Thanks to you and your actions against the Helicarriers, Hydra has been reduced to a fraction of the numbers we once had, reduced to hiding in the woods."

"Yeah, I've been crying myself to sleep about that for months now," Steve smirks and does his best to mouth off despite the pain burning in his shoulder and how badly his head is spinning. His smart comment earns him a strike across the face from Strucker's metal gauntlet. Steve spits out blood onto the dirt floor before glaring up at man.

"I am a little hurt that you are not happier to see me, Captain," Strucker smiles. "I have to admit I've been looking forward to seeing you again once I heard you were pulled from the ice."

"Sorry the feeling's not mutual," Steve frowns and two of the awaiting soldiers grab Steve's arms.

"Perhaps your feelings will change if we spend some quality time together. I have some questions that I believe you have the answers to," Strucker kneels in front of Steve. "And you _will_ answer them." Strucker grins. "As I said, you're responsible for destroying my Hellicarriers and nearly two thirds of my men. Before I kill you, I want to know where Nick Fury is."

"6-feet under," Steve's demeanor changes from snarky to serious.

"I do not believe that for a second," Strucker circles around, but Steve remains silent. "I do have ways of making you talk, Captain."

"Do your worst," Steve sneers and Bucky huffs out a quiet laugh that surprises himself when he vaguely remembers a kid too dumb to run from a fight.

"Oh, I plan on it," Strucker's fist strikes the side of Steve's face before landing a hard hit straight to his abdomen that is left wide open and unprotected with Steve's arms still restrained behind his back. The Super Soldier coughs and gasps, the strike knocking all the air out of his lungs.

Bucky's breathing quickens and he suddenly realizes that his fists are clenched tightly at his sides as he watches Steve hunch forward, but the soldiers holding his arms keep him upright.

Strucker laughs and strolls over to a table hidden in the shadows on the far side of the room. "I hope you didn't have any plans today, Captain. Because I have a feeling our little meeting will last for quite some time." Strucker turns around, his metal gantlet on his hand sparking with electricity, illuminating his cruel, cold face.

"Don't worry," Steve pants and lifts his eyes to Strucker. "I can do this all day."

Strucker immediately raises his hand to the Soldier and fires a bolt of electricity, hitting him in the middle of his chest. Steve is sent reeling to the ground from the hit and before he knows what's happening, Strucker is on top of him. Strucker grabs Steve around the neck with the electrified glove and squeezes. Steve chokes and gasps as his body convulses with the electricity.

Bucky steps forward, his anger suddenly boiling, but the Hydra soldiers guarding Strucker quickly step in front of him and Bucky stops in his tracks. He glares at the soldiers before looking over their shoulders at the man being pinned to the ground.

"Where is Fury?" Strucker shouts, but Steve can hardly hear him. All sound in the room starts to become drowned out by the rush of electricity as it courses through his body. His muscles painfully contract and spasm, his back arching off the ground, and his lungs can't bring in any air. He can feel his eyes start to roll back into his head as the world starts to dip into darkness. Strucker finally releases him from his hold, knowing that he won't get any answers if his prisoner loses consciousness.

Steve crumples to the floor, steam rising off of his body. He coughs and his chest heaves as he sucks in air desperately. He's exhausted, his head is spinning from not getting enough oxygen, and his body is still shaking from the shock. Despite everything, Steve rolls onto his stomach and pulls his knees up, groaning as he pulls his upper body up to a kneeling position.

"That the... the best you got?" Steve wavers on his knees, but manages to stay upright.

"You don't know when to give up, do you?" Strucker huffs as he circles around Steve again.

"Nope," Steve grins weakly and Bucky's face grimaces.

Strucker slams his hand into Steve's back, knocking him down face first into the dirt and holds him there. The electricity sparks again and Steve grits his teeth as he tenses against the shock. He pushes against the hand grinding down on his back. Strucker kneels down close to Steve's face and pulls the glove away from his back, his body instantly dropping to the floor. "Where is Nick Fury?"

"H-hanging out with Elvis….in Vegas," Steve quirks an eyebrow as he stubbornly tries to push himself up. Strucker sends his boot straight into Steve's abdomen, dropping him to the ground. Strucker holds the electrified gauntlet to his flank for a few agonizing moments before he pulls the glove away again.

"Where is Nick Fury?" He shouts again.

"Abducted by Chitauri," Steve growls from the ground, not able to pull himself up any longer.

Strucker roars in frustration and grabs Steve's face with the glove, slamming his head into the ground and holding it there. Bucky clenches his jaw and turns away, pacing around the door as he watches Strucker hold the electrified gantlet to Steve's face for longer than he should. Steve grits his teeth and tries to bite back a scream as the electricity courses through his skull.

"Where. Is. Fury!" Strucker shouts and finally removes the glove from Steve's head. The Soldier lays motionless and unresponsive on the ground. Bucky's brow furrows as he stares at Steve who is still not moving. Strucker grabs Steve's face and hauls him up to look at him. Steve blearily cracks his eyes open to glare at the Hydra Leader. "Tell me where he is."

"Dead," Steve glares, his voice broken and rough and Bucky releases a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Strucker frowns drops Steve, his body collapsing to the ground. His face presses into the cool earth and small plumes of dirt are kicked up with each breath he takes "I know," Steve huffs out a laugh and does his best to sound strong when his voice wavers and all he wants to do right now is let himself pass out. "I was mad t-too. H-he owed me…" he pauses as he fights against his body that's still trembling and shaking from the electricity. " O-owed me t-twenty….dollars in a p-poker game he…he lost."

Strucker pauses for a long moment before he turns around with a renewed, calm demeanor. Any sign of frustration or anger is gone from his face and has been replaced with a devious smirk. Bucky knows this isn't good.

"I've changed my mind," Strucker nods over to one of the Hydra Soldiers on guard and he abruptly leaves. "As much as I am enjoying this, I think it would be best if we end our visiting time early."

"You're b-breakin' m' heart," Steve mumbles.

"I think you need some time on your own," Strucker stands over Steve when the Hydra Soldier returns with a large bucket in hand. Strucker takes a step back and the Hydra Soldier douses Steve with water from the bucket. Steve gasps and shivers as the water seeps through the thick fibers of his uniform to his skin. "Time to reminisce on your time in the ice. When you decide you would like to know what it feels like to be warm again, you can let me know and when you tell me where Fury is, I will make sure you are treated to a roaring fire."

"Unlikely," Steve shivers.

"You say that now, but I have a feeling this will motivate you a great deal. We'll see if you're still as obstinate as you are now after a few hours in the cold," Strucker grins. "But just in case you are counting on your Super Soldier Serum to pull you back from the grave yet again," Strucker pulls a syringe from his belt and buries the needle into Steve's neck, pressing the plunger to force the liquid into his muscle. "Let's just make sure that it's not going to be a problem.

"What the h-hell was t-that?" Steve winces.

"My Death Spore is something you are familiar with, Captain," Strucker holds up the empty syringe to Steve. "I know you saw it kill countless men in the war. Unfortunately, the Spore won't kill Super Soldiers, but it will be enough to weaken your Serum and it won't exactly be pleasant as it works it's way through your system."

The Hydra Soldiers haul Steve up to his feet and hold him up when he nearly collapses.

"It's going to t-take more than a b-bath and a s-spore to get me to talk," Steve glares at the man.

"We'll see," Strucker turns his back on Steve and the Hydra soldiers drag him past Bucky. He can't even bring himself to look at Steve as he's dragged outside.

"Where are you taking him?" Bucky asks.

"I'm going to give him a cool down time," Strucker replies casually and Bucky's heart drops. He rushes outside and sees the Hydra Soldiers un-cuffing Steve's hands. Big mistake.

Steve can hardly will himself to stand, but he knows he has to take full advantage of their oversight. This could be his last chance and his adrenaline, instincts, and iron will kick in.

He manages to pull his one arm free from the soldiers and sends him skipping across the snowy ground. The second soldier holding onto his right arm quickly locks him in place, tethering his arm to a thick, metal cord attached to a massive tree. More Hydra soldiers rush in to help get the situation under control. Steve's adrenaline is waning and the fatigue coupled with the spore overtake Steve's ability to fight back. They grab onto his left arm and lock it into place with a second metal cord that is anchored to another large tree trunk. The cords stretch his arms out from his sides as far as they will go and he's forced to kneel in the snow.

"Enjoy your outdoor time, Soldier," a Hydra goon laughs and Steve just glares at him as his breath fogs out in front of him. He pulls experimentally at the cord holding his arms, willing his exhausted muscles to flex as he fights to break the cord, but it's too strong. He bites back the urge to shiver as steam rises from his uniform from the water evaporating into the freezing air, taking his body heat with it. Bucky can already see frost forming on the outside of the fabric.

"Asset," Strucker shouts and Bucky flinches. "A word, if you please," Strucker turns away and walks back into the cinderblock room.

Bucky takes one last look at Steve before following after Strucker. He slowly walks into the room where Strucker stands with his back to him, his frame silhouetted by the beam of light still shining through the small square in the wall. He musters up all of his courage and approaches him.

"Sir," Bucky straightens and stands at attention. Strucker spins around, striking Bucky across the face.

"You failed today, Winter Soldier," Strucker growls.

"The prisoner did not escape," Bucky shakes off the hit and returns to attention.

"No, he didn't - no thanks to you. If it were not for me, he would have been lost to us," Strucker stops and stands directly in front of Bucky who immediately diverts his gaze to the ground, avoiding direct eye contact. "Let me make myself perfectly clear: Your only allegiance is to Hydra, not to yourself, not to that man. He is nothing. In fact, he is less than nothing. He is the enemy. Do you understand?"

Bucky keeps his gaze on the ground and Strucker studies him for a moment. "What did he tell you in the forest before we arrived?"

Bucky hesitates, uncertain of what he should say.

"Do not lie to me," Strucker threatens.

"He…He told me that I should fight for myself."

"Fight for yourself?" Stucker laughs. "You fight for Hydra and only Hydra. You are a pawn: expendable, inferior, nameless, and inconsequential. Your purpose is to follow orders, protect the high players, and carry out the will of the king for the vision and glory of Hydra. There is nothing for you in this world. There is no hope. There are no happy times. There is only the next mission."

Bucky presses his eyes closed. "He said we were friends."

Strucker's face sours and he leans in close to Bucky, his voice low and firm. "Listen closely, Asset. If you hear nothing else I have said tonight, hear this: Hydra is all you will ever have. There will _never_ be anything else. This is your fate. Accept it and forget the foolishness this man has spewed into your mind. This man is not your friend. He is the enemy, your _mission_. When the time comes, I expect you to finish that mission. I trust that there will not be any further hesitation, lest i am forced to send you back to be re-wiped."

"No sir," Bucky's voice shakes at the though of mind wiping. "I will not fail again."

Strucker glares at Bucky before slowly pulling away from him. "See that you don't," he growls, low and threatening. "Dismissed."

Bucky nods and quickly leaves the room.

Outside, the storm has moved in. The clouds have released their stores of fluffy, white snow as there are now flurries of large flakes cascading down from the sky. He forces himself to walk past Steve without stopping. He keeps his feet moving, but allows himself to glance over to where Steve is. The Soldier is slumped forward, his arms still spread open and tethered to the trees.

'He's nothing. He's the enemy. You fight for Hydra, nothing else. He's nothing to you. Nothing, nothing, nothing,' Bucky repeats over and over in his head, but he knows in his heart that it's a lie. Memories burn deep in his chest as he watches him shiver and shake in the cold, mountain air.

 _It had been a long, hard day and the night is cold and the rain has turned to light snowfall. Their weekly trip to a store to steal what they need to survive was unsuccessful so they go to bed hungry tonight. They've set up camp for the night in the back doorway of a storefront. It's not much, but the shallow dip in the brick wall for the door does offer a little protection from the chilly wind and it's out of sight and off the main street._

 _"Just take it, Stevie," Bucky pushes the scrap of fabric they're referring to as a 'blanket' over to the small, shivering blonde who just frowns at it. "It's like the arctic out here and you're freezing."_

 _"A-and you're j-just enjoying the b-balmy weather?" Steve shoots Bucky a look as he shudders. "We share it." Steve takes the blanket and spreads it over the both of them, although it hardly covers their legs._

 _"Steve, it doesn't make sense for both of us to be cold. Just take the whole thing," Bucky pulls the zipper up on Steve's thin jacket and pulls the blanket over him._

 _"What's g-going on with you B-buck?" Steve frowns._

 _"What?" Bucky shrugs. "I'm tired and I just want to go to sleep. Now will you listen to me and cover up before you freeze to death?"_

 _"No, talk to me Bucky," Steve stubbornly pushes the blanket off again and stares at Bucky. "Something's got you worked up."_

 _"The only thing that's got me worked up is having to fight with you to make sure you survive."_

 _"You mean that_ _we_ _survive," Steve corrects and frowns at Bucky who doesn't answer. "Look, Bucky, I can take….."_

 _"I know, I know. You can take care of yourself," Bucky rolls his eyes. "But when you left the orphanage with me, it became my job to watch out for you."_

 _"Your job?" Steve looks at Bucky as he starts to piece everything together. "Is all this because of what happened with your family? To Henry?"_

 _"Go to sleep, Steve," Bucky answers shortly and lays down, signaling the end of the conversation._

 _"No, hold on," Steve ignores the signal and keeps pushing. "If you're trying to somehow make up for what happened with your brother…"_

 _"Drop it, Steve," Bucky sits up and looks at Steve with a look that warns him to drop the subject._

 _"It wasn't your fault," Steve says so firmly Bucky almost believes him._

 _"Yes it was" Bucky replies, anger simmering just below the surface. "I was supposed to fight to keep him safe and he died because I failed," Tears start to well in Bucky's eyes as he frowns at the flakes falling onto the wet alley street. "Now it's you and me and it's my job to keep you alive."_

 _"Keep_ _us_ _alive," Steve corrects again. "It's always_ _us_ _. Maybe if you would focus less on fighting for me and more on fighting for yourself you'd understand that."_

 _"I'm not worth fighting for, Steve," Bucky sighs. "I'm not worth it."_

 _"You are worth it. You may not think you are," Steve grabs the blanket and replaces it over both himself and Bucky before he locks his blue eyes on Bucky's teary, brown eyes. "But I do."_

 _Steve scoots closer to Bucky and lays down on the cold concrete, closing his eyes to go to sleep for the night and not speaking another word. Bucky just sits in stunned silence while Steve continues to ignore him._

 _"Stubborn Punk," Bucky sighs under his breath and lays down next to Steve, pulling the blanket higher up over both of them._

 _"Shut up and go to bed, Jerk," Steve grumbles._

Bucky rubs his hand down his face when he realizes there are tears falling down his face. He shakes his head to clear his mind and glances over to Steve one more time before quickly retreating to his quarters.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks so much for your awesome reviews - I love hearing from you guys! Here is the latest chapter in Fight Inside. I hope you guys enjoy! Yay Steve and Bucky!**

 **Fight Inside - Chapter 4**

Steve's lost track of time. All he knows is that he's cold, exhausted, and every part of him is aching. Despite the frigid temperatures, he's broken out into a cold sweat and it's becoming more and more difficult to focus. He stares down at the white snow that's now covering everything as more flakes fall and add to the thick layer on the ground.

His uniform is frozen from the water and the bitter chill has seeped through to his skin and deep into his bones. The sun is going down and it's only going to get colder. There's a fire flickering in the distance where a group of Hydra soldiers are gathered. The draw of the warmth of the crackling flames is undeniable, but talking to Strucker is not an option. Steve would rather freeze to death.

Experimentally, Steve pulls on the metal cord restraining his arm again, but the result is no different than the last dozen times he's tried. In fact, it's even less likely he'll be able to escape as time goes by. He can feel his strength draining away and his mind and reflexes are becoming sluggish the longer he stays out in the bitter cold.

A Hydra soldier that Steve didn't even notice approach drops a bowl of water in front of him.

"Better drink it while you can before it freezes." The Hydra soldier pulls up the zipper of his parka tighter around his neck and returns to the warmth of the fire he came from.

Steve frowns at the bowl in front of him, but then gives it a second look. He shifts from a kneeling position to getting one foot underneath him. With all of his strength, he pushes himself up and fights to stay upright. His frozen uniform crunches and cracks as the frozen fabric fights against Steve's movements. He glances between the bowl and the tree on his right. He gets his boot next to the bowl and takes aim, launching it across the ground and into the tree right where the cord is anchored.

Steve forces himself to stay upright and wait a few minutes for the water to work it's way into the tree trunk. He counts through shaky breaths as his body shivers violently. Once he's sure enough time has gone by, he pulls with everything he has on his right arm. He hears a crack and feels the restraint give a little and his heart jumps with hope. He pulls again and another crack. With one final flex of his arm the tree trunk yields, releasing the anchor. Steve works quickly to release his other arm now that his right arm is free. He pulls, leaning back with all of his body weight when the cord finally breaks free and he drops to the ground.

The urgency of the situation is lost to Steve as he takes a moment to just lay in the snow. His shoulders and arms have a dull ache from being held in one position for so long, but the cold chill is numbing his body and taking the edge off of the discomfort. Right now it just feels so good to lay down. He's so tired and he can feel himself starting to fall asleep. He's nearly sleeping when he startles awake with a jerk. Steve pulls himself out of his stupor, knowing that to fall asleep now would mean possibly not waking up.

He shakily crawls over to the tree, pulling himself up so he can try to break away more of the ice from his uniform. He bends his arms and legs painfully as the reinforced, woven fabric begins to give a little. Settling for the limited range of motion he has, Steve stumbles his way across the snowy ground to the cinderblock building he was interrogated in.

A Hydra soldier stands guard inside and Steve needs to make quick work of him. He won't last in a fight right now. He takes the metal cord still wrapped around his wrist and grabs the end of it with his other hand. He pulls the metal cord around the soldier's neck, pulling it taught. The Hydra soldier goes down and once Steve is sure he's not getting back up he releases him from his grip. Grabbing up his shield from the corner of the room he strikes the cord, breaking it off of his wrist and turns to make his get away, but is blocked by Bucky standing in the doorway.

"Bucky," Steve tries to push back a shiver and wills his body to stand up at full strength. "Step aside."

Bucky calls the bluff and doesn't move.

"I don't want t-to fight you," Steve frowns, but raises his shield defensively, his hands shaking and his movement is sluggish.

Bucky charges in, drilling the shoulder of his metal arm into Steve's shield and throwing him through the cinderblock wall behind him. Steve skids across the ground after he crashes through the cinderblocks. He shakily rises to his feet with much difficulty and prepares to run.

"Stop! Don't move" Bucky orders, his gun trained on Steve's back. The Super Soldier immediately stops, but keeps his back to his old friend.

"You're not going to shoot me, Bucky," Steve says quietly, never looking back as he slowly starts to take an unsteady step forward.

"I said don't move!" Bucky orders again and he's about to pull the trigger. Bucky bites his lip when he recalls the last time he had a gun pointed at Steve.

* _Flash*: He pulls the trigger and Steve drops to the floor of the Hydra Helicarrier, blood soaking through the red and white stripes of his uniform from the bullet hole in his abdomen_.

"Kill him," Strucker orders as he comes up the hill.

Bucky fires a warning shot just to the left of Steve as he takes another step forward, causing the Captain to freeze. "Don't do this," Bucky pleads, sweat dripping down his face.

* _Flash*: Steve falls from the Helicarrier into the murky water below._

Steve slowly starts to walk forward again, testing his limits.

"What are you waiting for?" Strucker screams. "Kill him!"

Bucky's hand shakes as he aims the gun right in the middle of Steve's back, finger poised on the trigger and ready to pull.

"This isn't you, Bucky," Steve glances over his shoulder to Bucky.

 _*Flash*:_ _He doesn't know why, but he dives into the water, reaching out and grabbing onto his arm before swimming them both to the surface. He drags the waterlogged Soldier in from the Potomac and pulls him up onto the shore. He's surprised to feel relief when he sees the shaky rise and fall of the unconscious man's chest. This man who he was just trying to kill only moments ago._

"I can't," Bucky drops the gun.

"Weakling," Strucker sneers. "Destroy them both!" He shouts to two soldiers down the ridge.

The Super Soldier's eye catches two soldiers exiting an armory, each kneeling to the ground with a rocket launcher perched on their shoulders as they take aim.

"Bucky! Look out!" Steve shouts. Adrenaline pumping, he runs down to Bucky, ramming his shield into him to shove him out of the way. Steve twists and throws his shield up to block the first missile, sending it flying back into the armory where it sets off a chain reaction of explosions, setting fire to the camp.

The second rocket comes half a second later and Steve is not able to get his shield up to completely block it in time. The rocket blows up in a giant fireball when it hits the edge of his shield, throwing Steve back into a tree. Steve's back hits the giant trunk hard, sending a crack echoing through the air when the giant tree is nearly cracked in half as Steve drops to the ground.

Bucky is watches in shock from where he landed after Steve had shoved him to safety. His eyes are wide as he stares at Steve laying on the ground. He doesn't get up. He just lays in the snow, gasping for air through his burned lungs from the blast, wrenching a memory of a scrawny, asthmatic kid from the deep depths of Bucky's mind.

 _"What in the hell are you doing up there, Steve?" Bucky shouts when he returns to the warehouse they had taken shelter in after sleeping on the streets for the last few nights. He had been out getting food for them and came back to Steve deciding to explore the space._

 _"I'm lookin' for supplies," Steve answers as he crawls around on the lower level of an old, rusty catwalk that's a good 15 feet off the ground. "There's a bunch of painting drapes down there we can use for blankets and there's some old tools up here that maybe we can use."_

 _"That's all well and good, but you mind gettin' your skinny butt off of that death trap before you kill yourself?" Bucky frowns as Steve continues to climb around on the catwalk._

 _"You still worry too much!" Steve grins at Bucky because he can tell he's stressing him out._

 _"Because you're still givin' me reasons to worry," Bucky frowns and nearly has a heart attack when Steve scoots over to the far edge of the rickety platform._

 _"One more second," Steve calls. "There's some rope over here that we could use."_

 _"Steve!" Bucky shouts when the old structure pulls away from the wall. The platform catches itself on something and stops falling with a sharp jerk. Steve loses his balance and topples over the edge, but he manages to grab onto one of the rusty bars._

 _"Bucky!" Steve shouts as he hangs on for dear life._

 _Hang on, Stevie!" Bucky pleads as he runs across the warehouse, dropping the food he had collected. He can see Steve's hands slipping down the bar. "Don't let go, Stevie! Don't let go!"_

 _"Bucky! Hurry!" Steve panics. His hands slip and he loses his grip and falls, landing in the pile of painting drapes below._

 _"Oh my God," Bucky breathes. "Steve!"_

 _Bucky runs over and finds Steve buried in the dusty painting drapes. He is relieved to find Steve alive, but he's coughing and wheezing, not able to pull air into his lungs. "Damn dust," Bucky curses at the cloud that was spewed into the air from the impact. He runs over to where they slept last night, digging through their stuff for Steve's inhaler. He finally finds it and runs back across the warehouse to where Steve is gasping and panicking from the fall and the asthma._

 _"Breathe in," Bucky shoves the inhaler in Steve's face and he takes in as deep of a breath as he can. "Again," Bucky orders and Steve repeats the process._

 _"Thanks," Steve pants._

 _"Don't_ _ever_ _do that again," Bucky sighs and hugs Steve tight._

 _"W-wanted t-t-to help," Steve stutters through halting breaths._

 _"Shut up," Bucky frowns. "Just breathe." After a few tense moments, Steve starts to breathe more evenly._

 _"Bucky?"_

 _"What? What is it, Stevie?" Bucky pulls Steve away from his hug and searches for any other problems._

 _"I g-got the rope," Steve grins weakly and reveals the rope clutched in his hand._

 _"God, you're a punk," Bucky sighs. "When are we ever going to need a rope, Steve?"_

 _Steve shrugs and pauses for a few moments. "Bucky?"_

 _"What?" Bucky is starting to sound frustrated with the blonde kid._

 _"Sorry," Steve whispers and hugs Bucky again._

 _"It's okay, Stevie. You're okay and that's all that matters."_

 _"Love ya, Buck."_

 _"Love you too, Punk."_

 _"_ If you are too weak to finish your mission, then I will finish him for you," Strucker's angry words shake Bucky from his stupor and he sees him aiming his gun at Steve's head. "Goodbye, Captain America."

Bucky grabs the gun from where he had dropped it into the snow. All of his hesitation is gone as he raises the gun and fires, hitting Strucker in the arm.

"You dare betray Hydra!" Strucker snarls and spins around to face the Winter Soldier, but before he can take a step, Bucky fires the gun again. This time he delivers the final blow by aiming for the middle of Strucker's chest. The shot throws the Hydra Commander off of his feet and blood begins to soak through his pristine uniform and into the white snow.

A hot rage burns in Bucky's chest when he turns to see the two soldiers who fired the rockets charge up the ridge. He stomps down on the shield where Steve had dropped it, launching it up into his metal fist. Fueled by anger, he throws the shield with everything he has, nailing the first soldier and sending the shield ricocheting into the second before flying back to him. A clang rings out when he catches it with his metal arm and runs over to Steve's side. His neck and chest are badly burned from the blast and he's struggling to breathe as barely hangs onto consciousness.

"B-bucky…" Steve hazily looks over to Bucky when he kneels by his side.

Bucky remains silent, quickly assessing Steve's condition. They need to get out of here. The camp is on fire, but once the chaos settles down more soldiers will come looking for them. Bucky attempts to throw Steve's arm over his shoulder and lift the heavy Super Soldier from the ground, but Steve isn't with it enough to be much help.

Normally, Bucky wouldn't hesitate to leave the Soldier behind. He has no reason to save him. There is no benefit to him whatsoever and there is no strategic reason to keep him alive, but he can't bring himself to leave him. He has to save him.

"You need to help me," Bucky growls while he fights to keep Steve up.

"C-can't….feel m-my legs," Steve chokes and Bucky's heart sinks when he remembers how hard Steve hit the tree when the rocket impacted the shield. Bucky sets Steve down and rolls him over onto his side. He presses along his spine and frowns when he feels a deviation in the middle of Steve's back.

Bucky doesn't want to further agrivate the break, but they don't have a choice. There are soldiers coming up the ridge and they'll be on top of them in a couple minutes. He grabs Steve under his arms and drags him across the snow and sits him in a crevasse of a rock face.

"Hey," Bucky does his best to prop Steve up in a sitting position and snaps in front of his face a couple times to get him to focus. Steve's half-lidded blue eyes blearily look at Bucky as he shoves a gun into one hand and the shield in the other. "I'm going to go get supplies. You need to stay awake and shoot anything that comes up this hill that's not me. Understand?"

Steve nods drowsily as he starts to drift again, his chin dropping to his chest. Bucky shakes him back to his senses. "I'm serious. Stay. Awake."

" 'M good," Steve grips the gun and nods again.

Bucky reluctantly leaves Steve to run down the hill. Instincts that go against everything he's been trained for are screaming out at him to go back and protect him, but they need supplies if either of them want to survive out here, so he runs as fast as he can.

Soldiers intercept him halfway down to the camp. He pulls his side arms from his holsters and drops to his rear to slide the rest of the way down the ridge, firing his guns all the way down at the advancing Hydra troops. Each bullet finds it's mark and Bucky swiftly shifts to his feet at the bottom of the hill and sprints into the burning camp.

He knows the layout of the camp well and his first stop is a medical tent. The tent is on fire, but not engulfed. Bucky runs in and grabs a medical bag from the shelf and starts throwing in anything he can find that looks remotely useful. Bandages, antiseptics, morphine, blankets, and anything not nailed down to the floor.

Once he's collected his fill, he runs over to the supply tents, but most of them are on fire. There is one that is just starting to burn. He can't leave empty handed. He has to get in. Using his metal arm, Bucky rips away part of the tent to gain entry. Inside, much of the supply shelves are on fire and the food stores destroyed. He pushes through the flames and finds a few bags of rations, a couple canteens, and he throws on an insulated jacket and stuffs a second into the bag.

The tent is starting to burn quickly now and Bucky runs for the door, but finds it's on fire as well. Smoke is filling the small tent quickly and Bucky needs to get out of here.

He faces down one of the walls that's now blazing and shields his face with his metal arm as he charges at the wall, busting through the burning fabric. He lands outside with a grunt, the metal on his arm hissing in the snow. Wasting no time, Bucky grabs the bag and runs back up the hill. Going up is harder with the snow is covering the ground, making the steep slope very slick. Pushing himself up the embankment, he finally makes it to the top only to find an unbelievable sight waiting for him.

"You thought it would be that easy to escape from Hydra?" Strucker glares at the Winter Soldier.

"I killed you," Bucky glares right back.

"Superior men cannot be killed," Strucker grins a sadistic smile. "We are invincible. I was infected with the death spore during the war and what would have destroyed a lesser man has only served to make me stronger. Regeneration and super strength are just some of the advancements I've developed. We shall see if your Captain has what it takes to survive the spore."

Bucky growls and strikes, pulling his knives from his side. He ducks when Strucker lashes out with surprising speed, only narrowly dodging the fist. The attack doesn't throw Bucky for a second. His training and fighting capabilities kick in as instinct takes over. Without missing a beat, he pushes himself up, slashing at Strucker with his knife in an uppercut punch, but Strucker jumps back and the blade grazes across his cheek leaving a thin trail of blood.

"Hm, superior men still bleed," Bucky huffs.

"And Super Soldiers can still die from a bullet," Strucker grins when gunfire echoes over the forrest from where Bucky left Steve.

Bucky's attention is immediately pulled from the fight to the direction of the gunfire. He was completely caught up in the fight and forgot about getting back to Steve. Strucker uses the distraction to his advantage and drives a small blade into Bucky's side. The sharp sting of the blade is a cruel reminder that he needs to finish this fight before he can get to Steve. Time is not on his side and he has to work fast.

Concern and rage spurring him on, Bucky turns and elbows Strucker in the face with his metal arm. He grabs him with his flesh hand and drills him down into the ground.

"If anythings happens to him," Bucky growls out a threat.

"I won't stop until both of you are dead. If my men have failed this time, more will come. I will hunt both of you down. I will find you and I will kill him myself," Strucker spits and Bucky hauls him up from the ground and slams him into the trunk of a tree.

"You'll have to make it through me first," Bucky rips the blade from his side and buries it into Strucker's hand and through the tree trunk, pinning his hand to the tree. The Hydra leader screams out in anger and Bucky releases him. "Don't follow us if you value your life."

"You will not escape, Winter Soldier,' Strucker shouts furiously as Bucky runs up the ridge.

Bucky ignores the man's taunts and focuses on getting back to Steve. A couple more gunshots ring out and that only spurs Bucky on even more. Once at the top of the ridge, he finds a bloody scene laid out in front of him. There are Hydra soldiers laying on the ground in puddles of bloody snow, each one with a bullet hole in their head or chest.

Ignoring the bodies, Bucky runs around the corner to search for Steve where he had left him, but finds nothing. A million different thoughts race through his mind as he blankly stares at the empty crevasse. What if Hydra took him? What if Strucker already has him? Is he even still alive?

Bucky desperately searches the grounds for any sign of his friend. His heart starts pounding and he relives the last time he lost Steve. It was a couple weeks after he had first arrived at the orphanage and he wandered around the courtyard, looking of this friend.

 _Bucky looks over the wide open space filled with kids from the orphanage. There are kids playing tag, rolling down one of the small hills in the yard, or playing catch with some of the worn out sports equipment. Bucky wanders over to where he usually finds Steve in the mornings: sitting by himself under one of the small trees coloring on whatever paper he could get his hands on. But the patch of grass under the tree is empty._

 _"Hey, Chuck," Bucky calls to a boy on the courtyard playing catch with one of his friends. "Have you seen Steve anywhere?"_

 _"The shrimpy kid?" Chuck smirks. "Wouldn't be able to see him out here unless he were on a step stool and everyone sat down."_

 _"Don't be a jerk, Chuck," Bucky frowns and continues to look for Steve. He asks all of the kids he's met over the last couple weeks if they've seen Steve, but so far most of them don't even know who the quiet, blonde kid is and the few who do know who he is haven't seen any sign of him._

 _"Josh," Bucky runs over to the boy as he starts getting more and more concerned. "Have ya seen Steve anywhere today?"_

 _"The little kid?" Josh questions._

 _"Yeah," Bucky nods. "Have you seen him?"_

 _"Thought I saw him talking with Frankie a little while ago," Josh nods across the yard._

 _"Frankie Peterson?" Bucky frowns and Josh nods. Bucky dashes across the yard in the direction Josh indicated. Frankie Peterson is part of Neal Matthew's crew. Neal was the one who tried stealing Steve's lunch the first day Bucky had met Steve. This was not good._

 _"Steve?! Steve!?" Bucky shouts as he runs up to the orphanage. He can hear some boys talking and laughing. Bucky rounds the corner and nearly runs into Frankie._

 _"What do you want, Barnes?" Frankie crosses his arms._

 _"I'm looking for Steve. Someone told me you were talking to him this morning," Bucky tries to look over Frankie's shoulder._

 _"Well someone was mistaken," Frankie mirrors Bucky's side step as he tries to get around him._

 _"Let me by, Frankie," Bucky glares._

 _"You don't have any business back there," Frankie shrugs. "Move on, Barnes."_

 _Bucky doesn't budge, but he's startled when he hears a crash followed by loud, metal banging noises coming from around the corner._

 _He shoves Frankie out of the way and runs around the corner to find Neal and a couple other boys rolling one of the garbage cans around and hitting it with baseball bats._

 _"Hey," Bucky shouts. "What are you guys doing?"_

 _"Nothin' that concerns you, Barnes," Neal turns and faces Bucky._

 _Bucky doesn't move from where he stands. "Someone said they saw Steve with your buddy Frank this morning. Now I can't find him."_

 _Neal turns back to his friends and laughs before turning back to Bucky and shoving him back. "So cry me a river, Barnes. Your runty buddy ain't here. So why don't you move along." Neal shoves Bucky back._

 _Bucky catches his balance and nails Neal in the nose with his fist in return. Neal grabs his nose, blood gushing through his fingers as he doubles over._

 _"I think you broke my nose!" Neal growls._

 _"Cry me a river," Bucky snaps back. "Why don't you guys just move along unless you guys want a busted up nose too?"_

 _"Come on, fellas," Neal tips his head back to try to staunch the bleeding form his nose. "Lets leave Barnes with the trash." Neal kicks the trash can one last time before they move along._

 _Bucky watches them leave, making sure they're actually moving along, before he pulls the lid off of the tipped over garbage can. He finds Steve huddled in the bottom of it, covered in dirt and garbage with his hands over his head and his arms tucked against his ears._

 _"Steve," Bucky peers into the can, but Steve doesn't move. He stays planted on his knees, head buried under his chest and hands tightly covering his head as he shakes. "Come on, Steve," Bucky reaches in and tries to pull Steve out._

 _"No!" Steve shakes his ahead and shifts to kick at the hands trying to pull him out, his eyes tightly shut._

 _"Hey! Easy! Easy!" Bucky holds his hands up to shield himself. "Steve! It's me, Bucky!"_

 _"Bucky?" Steve pauses and stares with wide blue eyes at Bucky._

 _"Yeah. Those guys are gone. You wanna get out of the can now?" Bucky smirks, trying to lighten the mood a little._

 _Steve nods and crawls out and sits on the ground, his little arms wrap around his legs that are pulled up against his chest. Bucky tips the garbage can upright and Steve flinches at the banging sound of the metal._

 _"Hey," Bucky kneels in front of the trembling Kid, but Steve just keeps his forehead pressed against his knees. "You okay?"_

 _Steve quickly nods._

 _"You sure?"_

 _Steve pauses for a moment before he slowly shakes his head and sniffs._

 _"You wanna talk about it?"_

 _Steve shakes his head again and Bucky frowns._

 _"You sure?" He scoots closer and sits next to Steve. The little, blonde Kid immediately wraps his arms around Bucky. Caught off guard, Bucky pauses with his arms held out from his sides as Steve clings to him. After a moment, Bucky wraps his own arms around Steve and holds him tight._

 _"You're good, Stevie," Bucky doesn't let up on his grip. "I've got you."_

Bucky follows the rock wall and rounds another corner in search for Steve when he comes face to face with a Hydra soldier and the barrel of his gun. Bucky freezes, slowly raising his hands up.

"You chose the wrong side," the Hydra soldier cocks the gun and Bucky closes his eyes. A gun goes off and Bucky is ashamed to admit he flinched. After a moment, he slowly cracks his eyes open to see the Hydra soldier dead on the ground with a bullet hole in his back. He looks up and sees Steve holding himself up against the rock face with one arm while holding a smoking gun in his other hand. Sweat covers his brow and his whole body is quivering.

"That's a matter of opinion," Steve coughs and starts to collapse to the ground when his exhaustion takes over.

"Steve," Bucky quickly closes the distance between them and catches Steve before carefully guiding him down to the ground.

"You good?" Steve mumbles lethargically.

"I'm fine," Bucky frowns. "I thought I told you not to move."

"You said to stay awake. Didn't say anything about not moving," Steve gives a little smirk when he sees how annoyed it makes Bucky.

"I assumed that staying put was an unspoken understanding," Bucky sighs.

"Debatable," Steve shrugs and allows his eyes to fall closed.

"Come on, we need to get out of here," Bucky tries to get the Captain moving again. "Can you move your legs yet?" Bucky crosses his fingers that the Super Soldier serum is doing it's job.

"A little," Steve works to push himself up. Bucky grabs his arm and pulls him up to his feet while keeping a firm hold on his pistol in the other hand. Steve can get his legs under him, but doesn't really offer much help yet.

The two of them move slowly through the forest while Bucky searches for an area they can find some shelter in that will hide them until Steve has a chance to heal.

"Stay awake, Steve," Bucky jostles him when he feels his head starting to loll.

" 'M awake," Steve sighs.

"Dont' believe you," Bucky quickly twists and fires his gun at a Hydra soldier that charges in. Another gunshot echoes out and Bucky looks over to see Steve listlessly holding his gun up to hit another soldier that was trying to flank them.

"Proof enough?" Steve wheezes.

"I could hit a Hydra agent in my sleep too," Bucky states flatly.

"Bring on the Hydra soldiers," Steve starts to drift again. " 'M ready t'go."

"Sure you are," Bucky huffs and tries to keep Steve talking. "Eyes open. Tell me what you see."

"Trees," Steve mumbles.

"We're in a forest, Steve," Bucky frowns. "Trees are a given."

"Snow," Steve offers instead and Bucky just sighs.

"What color is that bird over there?"

"Brown," Steve answers so quietly Bucky nearly misses it.

"You didn't even look," Bucky frowns and shifts his weight to shake Steve when he feels his head drop to his shoulder.

"Sure I did," Steve replies sleepily and Bucky can feel him lift his head a bit.

"You're a terrible liar."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Steve, there is no bird. I made it up."

"And you were calling _me_ a liar?"

"You said the bird was brown."

"You said there was a bird."

Bucky smirks at Steve's ridiculousness and how easy it is to fall back into the familiar, sarcastic banter with him. His smile quickly fades when Steve starts coughing and struggling to breathe again as his burned lungs flare up. Bucky quickly lowers Steve to the ground and tries to position him so he can breathe more easily by holding an arm around his shoulders to keep him upright.

"Hey, I surrender. I lied, the bird was brown, whatever you want. You win," Bucky smiles a little to try to hide his concern.

Steve takes in halting breaths and gives a weak smile. "Go me," Steve gives a pathetic excuse for a fist bump in triumph before he erupts in a coughing fit.

"Easy. You're good, Stevie," Bucky wraps his arms around him like he remembered doing so many years ago. "I've got you."


	5. Chapter 5

**Have I mentioned how much I love Steve and Bucky? I hope you guys love them too, because there is a ton of Steve/Bucky bromance coming your way!**

 **Fight Inside - Chapter 5**

"Stark, I"m on site. What's your ETA?" Sam reports as he lands onto the snowy ground, scanning the decimated forest.

"I've got the afterburners on full power," Tony answers. "ETA: 15 minutes. What's our situation look like?"

"I'm going to venture a wild guess and say that Steve engaged the enemy and was spotted," Sam sighs. "I've got maximum damage here. The whole camp and half the trees are burned to the ground."

"Well, no one ever said Rogers was subtle," Tony remarks, trying to mask his concern with his usual sarcasm. "Any sign of our Spangly Friend?"

"No. No sign of anyone. The place is a ghost town. Anyone who could run away, ran. Anyone who couldn't, well, let's just say they're not going to be talking anytime soon," Sam shifts the rubble in the snow to reveal a badly burned corpse of a Hydra Soldier.

"We'll find him, Sam," Tony assures him.

"We don't even know if he's still alive," Sam stomps down on a burning Hydra flag, girding it into the dirt with his boot, as he continues to investigate the scene. "For all we know, Steve is dead or he's been captured by Hydra because he was too damned stupid to wait for backup."

"Steve's too stubborn to die and if he has been captured by Hydra, you can bet your ass that he's going to put up a fight. Steve won't surrender. He doesn't know how."

* * *

"Just a little further," Bucky pushes Steve to keep moving, but his encouragement is falling on deaf ears in the still, quiet forest. The only sound is Steve's wheezing lungs and the shuffling of the crunching snow and branches under their feet.

For the last couple miles, Bucky has been half carrying, half dragging the Soldier after Steve had started replying less and less to Bucky's attempts at conversation to keep him alert. Bucky keeps pushing forward through the dense underbrush and rough terrain. The going is slow and difficult, but he wants as much distance between them and the Hydra Soldiers as possible. Strucker isn't going to let them just walk out of here alive. The maniac said it himself: He'll hunt them down. He'll find them and he'll kill them.

Steve destroyed decades of work when he brought SHIELD down, Bucky essentially betrayed Hydra by defecting and helping Steve, and they just blew up a major Hydra camp. Strucker is out for blood and nothing short of their slow and agonizing death will satisfy him. Normally, Bucky would have no problem taking an entire Hydra regime on his own, but this time he's not on his own. He's got Steve who is in no condition to stand, let alone fight.

Bucky's not exactly at 100% either. His side is still bleeding from where Strucker buried the knife to the hilt. He winces as it burns when he shifts Steve's weight. He's cold, he's tired, and he doesn't remember the last time he slept or ate. Exhausted doesn't even begin to describe his current condition and dragging a 240lb Super Soldier through the woods along with a forty pound pack of supplies and Steve's shield on his back is not helping his situation. Finding shelter and a safe place to make a fire is a top priority.

Hypothermia is at the forefront of Bucky's mind right now. With the Death Spore still coursing through Steve's body, there's no way the Serum will be able to help combat the cold.

Despite the frigid temperatures, Steve's body is working hard to fight off the Spore. Bucky noticed a sheen of sweat form across Steve's face and neck an hour ago when Steve had started becoming less and less responsive. Although Bucky's attempts at conversation are mediocre at best. It's been a long time since he's carried on a normal conversation with anyone. For as long as he can remember, the only reason anyone ever spoke to him was either for a mission report or to give orders.

Although he falls back into his old conversations and jokes with Steve, it's still a foreign concept to him. It's still an effort. Years and years of conditioning and training stand between him and normal. He's not even sure if he really knows what normal is anymore or if it's even possible for him to go back to normal.

"Come on, Steve," Bucky growls, discontinuing the unpleasant self reflection. He lowers Steve to the snowy forest floor, bracing him against a tree.

Steve coughs and slumps forward, wheezing in air through his damaged lungs as his chest shakily rises and falls. Bucky slips two fingers over Steve's pulse point on his neck and is disappointed to find a weak and rapid flutter under his finger tips.

"Hey," Bucky catches Steve's chin in his metal hand. "Steve. You need to wake up."

Steve makes no signs of consciousness and Bucky knows he's got to do something because they're wasting precious time.

"Sorry, Steve," Bucky makes a fist and jams his knuckle into Steve's chest and runs it up and down his sternum. Steve wakes with a jerk, curling in on himself and shoving Bucky's hand away from his chest painfully.

"Was that necessary?" Steve moans and slowly leans his head back against the tree, closing his eyes.

"Had to shock your system," Bucky shrugs. "I could just slap you next time."

"Might be k-kinder," Steve grimaces.

"Sorry," Bucky smirks.

"Y-you c-can make it…up t'me w-with a f-fire," Steve shivers as he starts to come back to his senses.

"We need to find camp first before we build a fire," Bucky pulls Steve to his feet. "Besides, if anyone's got some making up to do, it's you. You owe me a dozen times over just for today."

"A d-dozen?" Steve asks incredulously while Bucky ducks to throw Steve's arm over his shoulders and they start to trek through the thick forest yet again.

"At least a dozen, plus whatever you owe me from back in the day," Bucky mock-frowns at Steve. "Do you know how many times I had to walk up and down the streets of Brooklyn trying to find out which back alley you were getting the beat up in?"

"N-not that o-often," Steve frowns.

"Obviously we remember things a little differently," Bucky huffs.

"J-just glad you r-rememeber," Steve glances over to Bucky with a soft smile.

"Yeah. Me too," Bucky keeps his eyes forward, but allows a small smirk to cross his face.

"How about we c-call it even…," Steve shrugs drowsily. "Besides…I s-seem to remember s-saving your behind a…c-couple times t-too."

"I don't recall that," Bucky quirks a brow at Steve. "I think you're delirious."

Steve laughs weakly, but what Bucky doesn't tell Steve is that he does remember him saving him. He remembers Steve saving him from behind enemy lines during the war. He remembers Steve saving him from having to go through life alone after he lost his family. He remembers Steve saving him on the Helicarrier when all he knew was orders and training and pain.

After the Helicarrier, Bucky went to the museum shortly after SHEILD collapsed. He made his way through all the exhibits on the Howling Commandos and Captain America's genesis to his final battle with Red Skull. There was a small section dedicated to Steve's life before the war. There was not much information on Steve Rogers pre-war because it was just Steve and Bucky back then and the museum wanted to focus on the War and Captain America fighting the good fight before he made the ultimate sacrifice.

With so much unknown about their small beginnings, people inevitably came up with their own stories. He heard many of the people in the exhibit exchanging tall tales of Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers growing up in Brooklyn. Some had a tiny spot of truth and had just been exaggerated over time and others were just completely false, but the one thing most of them had in common was that Bucky was the strong one. Yes, Bucky was the physically stronger of the two, but what people missed was Steve's strength. Not Captain America's strength. Just little, pre-serum, regular-joe, Steven Grant Rogers. That crazy kid from Brooklyn who was too dumb to run from a fight was the strongest guy Bucky knew and he saved Bucky more times than he can count. That's the Steve Rogers he wishes people knew.

 _"Steve?" Bucky glances down a filthy alleyway and checks behind the dumpster for his friend. Steve hasn't come back to their apartment in hours. Bucky knows that if Steve isn't home by a certain time, he'd better start searching the streets for the little Punk since he's probably gotten himself into trouble again._

 _'Dammit, Steve," Bucky thinks to himself when he sees a a few guys gathered behind one of the local bars, obviously in the middle of a fight. One of the men is quite tall, no less than 6'3''. The second is a gruff looking man with a big, unkempt beard covering his face and the third is a rather odd looking man. He has bright red hair and a beaky nose. He seems to be the one leading the attack while the others laugh and shout. Bucky mentally names them Stretch, Harry, and Red as he starts walking toward them when he hears something unexpected._

 _"Leave me alone!" a woman's voice shouts and Bucky sprints over to the scuffle._

 _"Hey! You heard her," Bucky grabs Red by the shoulder and pulls him around. "The lady said to leave her alone," he pulls his arm back and decks him square in his beaky nose, knocking him to the ground._

 _Immediately, the whole scene deteriorates into chaos. Harry and Stretch jump Bucky, angry that this intruder has interrupted their fun. "Run!" he shouts to the woman now that he's successfully distracted the men harassing her and she immediately obliges._

 _Harry takes a swing at Bucky, but he's too quick to be taken down by such a simple attack. Bucky ducks and rams his shoulder into Harry's gut. Stretch retaliates quickly and swings a board he found on the ground at Bucky, hitting him in the back. Bucky stumbles forward when two of the men grab his arms and hold him against the brick wall of the bar._

 _"You should've minded your own business," Red wipes the blood from his face and cracks his knuckles as he approaches._

 _"Should've left the lady alone," Bucky shrugs._

 _The snarky comment earns Bucky a few punches to the face and gut before the two men drop him to the ground, leaving him coughing and gasping for breath._

 _"Next time, don't try to be a hero and just keep walking," Red warns._

 _"Next time, maybe you won't need your boys to help you fight your battles," Bucky spits blood out onto the asphalt. 'God, I'm starting to sound like Steve,' Bucky cringes to himself._

 _"You're gonna wish you'd kept your trap shut," Red turns back to Bucky and grabs him by his shirt, lifting him up into the air._

 _"He never keeps his trap shut," Steve replies, cracking a board across Red's face when he turns around. "Believe me, I've tried. If you figure out how to make him shut up, please, let me know." The attack causes Red to release Bucky and drop him to the ground._

 _Harry immediately takes a swing at Steve, but Steve swings the board again, connecting with the Harry's fist. The board shatters and Harry screams as he holds his broken hand._

 _Stretch rushes into the fight to seek revenge on Steve for his fallen friends, but Bucky collects himself off of the ground and grabs the man's arm, swinging him around and sending him crashing into a group of garbage cans._

 _By then, Red recovers and attempts to grab Steve, but he's too quick. Steve slips behind him and kicks his knee out from under him. Red growls in anger and swings his elbow around, nailing Steve in the face and knocking him into a puddle on the ground._

 _"Hey, back off, Pal" Bucky sneers and K.O.'s the man with a hard right swing._

 _"Taking on three guys by yourself?" Steve grunts as he slowly picks himself up from the wet ground. "You'd think that you liked being punched."_

 _"I had them on the ropes," Bucky frowns and helps Steve up. "Besides, that's my line."_

 _"Well, I just saved your ass, so it's my turn," Steve groans and tips his head back to try to slow the blood flowing out of his nose._

 _"You saved my ass?" Bucky laughs and hands Steve a tissue. "Pretty sure I just saved you from getting beaten to a pulp by that guy."_

 _"Wouldn't have even been in this mess if I hadn't spotted you getting your butt kicked by those guys," Steve winces as he presses the tissue to his nose._

 _"I didn't get my butt kicked," Bucky frowns._

 _"That's not how I saw it," Steve smirks, his head still tipped back and the tissues still pressed to his face. "When I came in it kind of looked like you were losing."_

 _"You know what," Bucky laughs. "The only reason I had to fight those guys is because I was looking for you in all the back alleys, waiting to find you getting walloped by someone."_

 _"How about you stop making excuses and admit that you owe me one."_

 _"I save you countless times and get nothing, but you help me out once and I owe you?"_

 _"I'm wet because of you," Steve mock-frowns._

 _"Like a half-drowned rat," Bucky wraps an arm around Steve's shoulder and pulls him down the street. "Come on. I'll buy you a beer."_

 _"I think that earned me_ _two_ _beers."_

 _"Fine. I'll buy you_ _two_ _beers."_

* * *

"Shit. Did Steve even _try_ to be covert?" Tony frowns as he lands next to Sam who is still shifting through the burning wreckage.

"Well, the last time I fought with Steve, three Hellicarriers ended up in the Potomac, SHEILD collapsed, and half of the Triskelion was blown up, so yeah, I'd say this is Steve's version of covert."

"Master tactician, my ass," Tony huffs. "Have you scanned the area?"

"Tried," Sam sighs. "I think the weather or the frigid temperatures are messing with the sensors."

"Well that complicates things," Tony frowns.

"Just going to have to do things the old fashioned way," Sam continues to search the ground.

"I hate old fashioned," Tony grumps.

"It's all about balance, Stark. A little skill never hurt anyone," Sam replies while he studies the ground for any clues.

"Alright, Sam Wilson: Tracker extraordinaire. What are you finding?"

"Give me a second. It's not exactly easy finding anything here," Sam frowns. "The snow is covering a lot of the tracks and half the forrest has been burned down."

"So, what you're saying is that your skill is finding nothing?"

Sam ignores Tony and continues to search for clues. "Sometimes skill and tech are beat out by pure, dumb luck."

"What did you find?"

"Drag marks," Sam points to the tracks in the snow.

"Shit," Tony sighs.

They follow the marks around the rock face and find a cluster of dead bodies. Sam and Tony immediately start brushing off the snow from the corpses, praying that none of them are Steve.

"All Hydra soldiers," Tony reports. "Clean kill shots on each of them. This was definitely Steve."

"But the million dollar question is: where is Steve?" Sam searches the scene.

"Million dollars is a little cheap," Tony frowns. "I'd say that's more like a billion dollar question."

"Here, tracks leading into the forest," Sam ignores Tony and kneels next to the tracks.

"Looks like there's two sets," Tony points to the second pair of boot prints.

"Not bad, Stark," Sam looks at Tony in shock.

"I'm not all just good looks and money," Tony winks.

"The only problem is that one set is walking and one is obviously struggling," Sam points to the shaky set of prints while he, yet again, ignores Tony.

"One of them has to belong to Barnes. Anyone else would have killed Steve and not taken him on a walk through the woods," Tony confirms what Sam is thinking. "The _billion_ dollar question is: Which tracks are Steve's and which are Barnes'?"

"Not sure," Sam frowns. "But at least there's a chance he got away."

"I don't think getting away with the Winter Soldier is a good thing. I know Steve cares a lot about him, but I don't trust him."

"No, neither do I, but at least he's got a chance."

"Then we'd better keep moving," Tony follows after Sam as he leads the way into the dense forest after the tracks.

* * *

Steve and Bucky have been moving along fairly well and Steve is doing his best to stay alert and help. The sun is dipping below the horizon and night will be here very shortly. They need to find them some sort of shelter soon if they are going to survive the night.

Their slow progress is halted when Bucky freezes, listening.

"Buck?" Steve sluggishly realizes they're not moving anymore.

"Stay. Here," Bucky orders firmly and deposits Steve against a tree.

"Bucky," Steve winces and peers over his shoulder to try to see where the Assassin is going.

Silently, Bucky stalks through the snowy terrain, eyes wide open and senses on high alert. He slips his sidearm out from his holster, the familiar weapon seating itself firmly into his grip.

"Bucky, look out!" Steve staggers out from the tree and a shot rings out. Bucky swings around just in time to see Steve drop to the ground.

"Steve!" Bucky hits the ground, scanning the scene to try and find the sniper, but the sniper's found somewhere to hole up. He needs to lure him out somehow and narrow his location. Taking a deep breath, Bucky pushes himself up off of the ground and dashes to a nearby tree when another shot is fired.

"That's it, you bastard. Keep firing," Bucky taunts the hidden sniper under his breath. He sprints to a neighboring rock, but the sniper is ready this time. He fires, hitting Bucky in the arm. Bucky dives behind the rock, grimacing as he grips his arm and the blood trickles through his fingers.

Bucky's got the sniper's location narrowed, but he dares to dart out from behind the rock, rolling across the ground as another shot rings out. Bucky dodges the bullet this time and raises his gun to where he sees the muzzle flash of the sniper. His aim is steady and true and his bullet finds it's mark, dropping the sniper out of his nest.

Without wasting a second, Bucky skids across the snow to Steve.

"Dammit," he curses when he sees the blood flowing out from Steve's shoulder and onto the pure, white snow beneath him, triggering flashbacks to the last time he saw his brother. He remembers Henry on the bathroom floor, a bullet hole in his chest and blood pooling around him and flowing down the grout between he tiles like a river.

"Henry, you idiot," Bucky growls, but catches his mis-step. Steve doesn't notice and he shrugs the mistake off. "Why don't you ever listen to me?"

"S-sorry," Steve stutters, but all Bucky can see is Henry.

"Just shut up and stay with me," Bucky grabs a stack of gauze from his pack and presses it firmly to the wound and Steve yelps. "Sorry. Sorry," Bucky frowns and packs snow on top of the gauze to try to staunch the bleeding. He needs to get the bleeding to stop so they can get out of here. The shots from their fire fight will no doubt have alerted the soldiers to their location.

"Y-your hit," Steve shakily lifts his hand to the oozing bullet wound on Bucky's arm.

"It's a through and through," Bucky shoves Steve's hand back down and scrapes the snow off of his shoulder. Steve inhales sharply as Bucky wraps up the wound tightly before he pulls Steve up. "We need to keep moving," Bucky grabs Steve's arm, but frowns when Steve still makes no move to stand. "Steve."

"Go, B-buck."

"We're getting out of here together."

"N-no…S-slowing you…down…" Steve pants at the effort it takes to speak.

"Just shut up and get your ass out of the snow," Bucky grabs Steve's arm and hauls him up, but Steve is spent. The blood loss is making him dizzy and he's just so tired. He takes all of his strength he has left and shoves Bucky away.

"Jus' go…p-please," Steve collapses to his knees without Bucky's support and his back still weak and healing.

"No! Not without you!" Bucky glares at the man and grabs Steve's face in his hands, forcing him to look at him through his half-lidded eyes. "I'm _not_ leaving without you again. I left you once after you saved me on the Hellicarrier. I'm not doing that again. Whatever happens, it happens to both of us. You live, I live. You die, I die, but for the first time in decades, I don't want to die, Steve. I want to fight. So you better put aside the self-sacrificing Super Soldier for a minute and remember that stupid, scrawny jerk who didn't know how to give up and was beat down in every back alley in Brooklyn and fight dammit!

Steve sighs, knowing Bucky's not letting this go. He grits his teeth and stumbles to his feet. Bucky grabs ahold of his arm as he sways wearily.

"Now was that so hard?" Bucky's expression softens mildly as he holds onto Steve.

"Yes..." Steve winces. "And that 'stupid, scrawny jerk' c-comment was uncalled for."

"Well, if you weren't being such a baby I wouldn't have had to have say it."

"God, y-you're mean," Steve huffs out.

Their good-natured teasing comes to a halt and Bucky's heart sinks when he hears the footfalls of boots and lights flashing through the trees. Hydra soldiers are rushing through the woods. They can afford to sacrifice stealth for speed with their advantage in numbers and weapons. With all of the snow and Steve's injuries, they're too easy to track right now. Bucky's got to think of something to throw them off their trail before they're on top of them.

Dragging Steve along, the two men make it to a stream rushing through the snow. Bucky tries to stick to the rocky areas with the least amount of snow to try to cover their tracks before wading into the river. It's risky getting wet, but if the soldiers find them, they're as good as dead. The rocks on the riverbed are loose and they stumble multiple times, but Bucky keeps Steve going and Steve keeps pushing himself back up to his feet.

Further down stream Bucky finds a rocky shoreline. They stumble out of the river and work their way up the shore when Bucky spots their salvation.

"Come on, Steve. Just a little further," Bucky frowns when he glances down to Steve's shoulder. The wound has already soaked through the bandage.

"Y'keep saying' that," Steve mumbles through halting breaths. "S-startin' t-to not believe y-you…"

"I'm serious this time. Just one more hill," Bucky urges Steve on when he hears voices coming up behind them.

The two men struggle up the ridge and finally, they make it up to a small, shallow cave in the rock face. Bucky lays Steve down and Steve bites back a cry as his shoulder burns from the movement.

"Shit," Bucky breathes when he peels off the blood soaked bandage to reveal the wound gushing again. Steve is shivering and pale. The difficult and demanding trek has left him breathless and exhausted. This isn't good. He's got to stop the bleeding or the wound is going to kill Steve before Strucker ever gets a chance. "I need to get the bullet out and figure out where you're bleeding from, Steve," Bucky calmly reports and starts pulling supplies out of the bag. He injects Steve with a local anesthetic and pain medication, crossing his fingers that they will kick in sooner rather than later.

Bucky glances over the ridge and he can see lights starting to flicker closer and closer. He shifts back to Steve and gets his supplies laid out.

"This is going to hurt, but I need you to try to keep quiet, Steve," Bucky frowns and grabs a clean cloth out of the bag. "You understand?"

Steve nods drowsily and Bucky takes a deep breath. He's got to work quickly before the soldiers get too close. He takes the cloth and shoves it into Steve's mouth before he grabs the forceps from the bag. Peeling back the fabric of Steve's uniform, he wipes the blood away to get a better look. Steve's eyes are closed and he doesn't even seem to notice Bucky inspecting the wound and he's hopeful that the medication is doing it's job.

"Here we go, Steve," Bucky warns and starts probing the wound for the bullet. Steve's brow furrows and his breathing starts to quicken. "I've got to open the wound up a little more," Bucky pulls his knife and carefully opens up the wound. Steve's body immediately tenses, his eyes squeezed shut, as the blade drags over his shoulder. "Breathe, Steve," Bucky reminds him. Steve releases the breath he didn't even realize he was holding, his chest working to pull in air.

"I think I can see it," Bucky wipes the sweat from his brow as the urgency rises in his chest to get this thing out. Steve's losing too much blood and he's got to stop the flow. Bucky forces the metal instrument into the wound and he can feel it clink against the bullet. Steve tenses again and groans.

"Shhhh, Steve, I'm sorry. I know - just keep quiet and stay with me here," Bucky whispers as he pushes deeper and ignores the muffled whimper that escapes from Steve.

Bucky finally gets a hold of the bullet and starts to pull it out, but it's lodged firmly into Steve's shoulder joint. Even worse, the Hydra soldiers are now directly under them. Bucky can hear their boots splashing in the river below. He has to get this bullet out. He wrenches on the forceps and Steve's back arches as he screams out, muffled by the cloth as Bucky forcibly works to remove the bullet. Bucky can see the flashlights of the Hydra soldiers below. In an act of desperation, he clamps his flesh hand over Steve's mouth and uses the strength of his metal hand to dig into the wound and grab the bullet. He pulls and twists to free the bullet while Steve's muffled cries shoot his anxiety level through the roof.

"Little bastard," Bucky glares at the smashed up hollow point bullet that he finally wrenches free from Steve's shoulder. "I got it. It's out," Bucky whispers and tries to calm Steve down as he writhes on the ground, barely hanging onto consciousness, breathless and shivering from the shock and the cold.

Steve lets out a muffled groan, his head hazily shifting side to side. Bucky keeps his hand over Steve's face as he wipes the blood away, still trying to find where the bleeding is coming from. "Shhhhh," Bucky pleads as he glances down to see the Hydra soldiers pausing below them. There's no way they didn't hear at least some of Steve's protests and they're waiting. Listening.

With one hand still covering Steve's mouth, he digs through his pack with the other, searching until he finally finds a clamp. He dabs at Steve's shoulder, clamping down the instrument on the damaged vessel. Steve flinches at the pinch, but Bucky breaths a sigh of relief when the bleeding finally stops. He watches it for a moment, making sure its done, before he peers over the edge of the ridge to check on their pursuers one more time. His heart sinks when he sees them starting to head up their way.

"I'm going to let go of your face, Steve, but I need you to stay quiet, okay?" Steve just slowly opens his eyes and blearily blinks at Bucky. "Look at me, Steve," Bucky shakes him in an attempt to ground him. "Tell me you're going to keep it together," Bucky looks at him straight in the eye and Steve pulls himself together enough to nod back. Bucky releases him and removes the cloth from Steve's mouth. Steve is true to his word, only opening his mouth to gasp for air.

Bucky quickly grabs a rock from the mouth of the shallow cave and throws across the river. The rock lands somewhere in the forest with a thud, catching the attention of the Hydra soldiers. Bucky peers over the edge and prays they take the bait. He sees them pause and exchange hand signals as they start to advance towards Bucky's distraction.

He's bought them some precious time and it's time he needs to stitch up the wound on Steve's shoulder.

After he is sure the Hydra soldiers have moved passed them, Bucky gathers some kindling and piles it near their makeshift camp site. He digs two pits next to each other before he breaks through to connect the two pits under the ground. He fills the first pit closest to Steve with the kindling and pulls out a flint from one of the pouches on his belt. With his knife, he strikes the flint and a spark catches the kindling and soon grows into a healthy fire.

"Y-you remembered," Steve drowsily looks at the pit Bucky created as he closes his eyes and melts into the warmth of the fire.

"The Dakota Fire Pit?" Bucky smirks. "That's survival skills 101. Some of us actually used our survival skills in the army while you were busy singing and dancing on stages with a bunch of beautiful dames."

"T-trust me…You w-were better o-off. No t-tights," Steve huffs out a laugh before he starts coughing again, grimacing as his shoulder burns from the harsh movement.

"That's enough reminiscing tonight," Bucky helps to prop Steve up so he can give him a drink form the canteen in his pack before he helps him to lay back down on the hard ground.

"Thanks," Steve breaths before he drifts asleep. Bucky props the backpack under Steve's head to try and offer at least a small amount of comfort. He sits back on his heels for a moment, watching Steve and thinking about everything they've gone through. Slowly, he reaches into Steve's uniform and pulls out the old, worn photograph that Steve had shown him. He looks at the two boys in the photo, big, goofy grins across their faces. Each of them had lived through tragedy, but together they were able to be happy again.

Bucky stares at the scrawny, blonde kid with dirt smeared across his cheek as he smiles for the camera. Bucky smirks and shifts his gaze to the familiar goofy-faced, brown-haired boy next to Steve. Two young boys out to take on the world, clueless and painfully unaware of what the future held for them.

Neither of them ever dreamed that this is where either of them would end up. Each of them a man out of time, thrown into a destiny far bigger than either of them could have ever imagined. Each of them were faced with their own impossible obstacles, but one thing was for certain; they were together again. Till the end of the line.

Bucky folds the picture and slips it back into Steve's uniform pocket over his heart before he lays on the ground across from him with the fire pit between them.

"Goodnight, Stevie," Bucky whispers.


	6. Chapter 6

**Alright, this chapter is a little dark and angsty. There is a section featuring an abusive relationship and a brief moment of child abuse. Be warned. I hope you enjoy the next chapter in this fiction and that it offers another layer to these characters. As always, thank you so very much for taking the time to read and, if you so please, review.**

 **Fight Inside - Chapter 6**

 _"I told you not to touch anything in here! Ever since I met Sarah you've been nothing but trouble! Worthless baggage! No wonder your father left you both behind!"_

 _The words ring out in Steve's head. The sting of the fresh bruises on his arm keep the memory and the fear at the forefront of his mind. Memories of being helpless as he was grabbed, his whole arm gripped in his hand as he yelled at him._

 _"Stevie?"_

 _That sweet, familiar voice always brings comfort and security and that's exactly what Steve needs right now. He sits huddled on his bed in the dark, his blanket wrapped around his shoulders. He wants so badly to go and hold onto her, never letting her go, but he doesn't move._

 _"Why are you sitting in the dark?" she asks, worried that her normally bouncy, happy little boy is unusually quiet and distant. She crosses the room and lays her hand across his forehead. "Are you feeling sick again?"_

 _Steve silently shakes his head._

 _"I got you some snacks at the grocery store on my way home from work tonight. Are you hungry?" He feels the mattress dip down as she sits on the edge of the bed._

 _Again, Steve silently shakes his head._

 _"I talked to Nathan," she starts and Steve shudders at the name. "He told me that the boys were picking on you at school again today. Do you want to talk about it?"_

 _Steve doesn't answer. The boys were picking on him again, but that doesn't bother him anymore. He's used to it. It's the bully at home that's the problem._

 _"Honey, I know that those boys are giving you a hard time, but you just have to keep your head up and push through. There will always be a bully in life, but you're stronger than they are, Stevie and if you start running, they'll never let you stop."_

 _Slowly, Steve raises his face to his mother with tears streaking down his face. She looks at him with those same blue eyes he's found comfort in so many times before. She wraps her arms around him, the familiar fabric of her nurses uniform is soft against his cheek, but she pulls away when he flinches against her hug._

 _"Steve," she frowns and unwraps the blanket, but Steve pulls it closer. "Are you hurt? Let me see."_

 _Reluctantly, he allows his mother to pull away the blanket he has wrapped around him, hiding the dark secret he's so desperate to keep from her._

 _"Baby, what happened?" she gasps at the dark purple bruises on his arm. "Did this happen at school?"_

 _Nathan's warning plays through his memory. "If you know what's good for you, you'll keep your mouth shut. It's your fault your mom is alone. I make her happy, so you'd better not mess anything." Steve pauses. He just looks at his mother and nods, bursting into tears as the guilt of lying to her breaks his heart._

 _Sarah just hugs her son, studying the bruise on his arm. "It's okay, Stevie. Lets go get you an ice pack."_

 _Steve takes her hand and she leads them down the stairs and into the kitchen. They pass Nathan's study and Steve glances into the room, but quickly averts his gaze when he sees Nathan sitting at his desk._

 _"Stevie," Sarah starts as she opens the freezer and pulls out a bag of ice and presses it to the bruise on Steve's skinny, little arm. "You know you can tell me anything, right? That nothing you tell me would ever make me love you less?"_

 _Steve nods and Sarah kneels in front of him, putting her hands on his little knees._

 _"And you know that I love you more than anything in the world?"_

 _Steve nods again. "I love you too, Mama."_

 _"Good," she kisses his forehead and looks him in the eye again. "Are you sure those boys at school are the ones to did this to you?" she asks and nods to his arm._

 _Steve pauses for a moment. He doesn't want to lie, but he wants his mom to be happy. He wants her to have everything that she deserves, so he nods, lying again._

 _"Alright, Baby," Sarah sighs. "Stay here and keep the ice on that. I'll be right back."_

 _Steve sits on the tall chair, his feet swinging underneath him as he holds the ice pack to his arm. He hears murmuring coming from upstairs that soon escalates to yelling. Steve sets the bag of ice on the table and jumps out of the chair before climbing the stairs to the study._

 _"I'm not a fool, Nathan! The bruise is in the shape of an adult's hand," Sarah shouts. "How could you? How could you do that to him?"_

 _"Me?" Nathan yells back. "What about what he's done to us? To you? Don't you see that he's the reason for all your problems? God, Sarah! Open your eyes! You should've let him die at the hospital! All your problems would have been solved!"_

 _"He's not an inconvenience or something I'm trying to get rid of, Nathan! He's my son!" Sarah points toward the kitchen when Nathan suddenly pauses._

 _"You!" he shouts at Steve from where he's peering around the door. "This is your fault! I told you not to say anything and you can't even do that!"_

 _Nathan starts toward Steve and grabs him by the arm again and Steve yelps as he's dragged into the study._

 _"I didn't say anything!" Steve pleads. "I swear I didn't tell!"_

 _"Don't touch him!" Sarah shouts and shoves Nathan away from Steve, pushing him behind her when Nathan strikes her across the face, knocking her to the floor._

 _"Mama!" Steve shouts and tries to push him off of his mother, but Nathan just shoves him away._

 _"Stay away from him!" Sarah slaps Nathan instinctively when he threatens her child. "You will not lay a hand on him. Not ever again," Sarah turns to grab Steve's hand and rushes him out of the room and down the stairs. As they rush through the living room toward the door, a gunshot rings through the room. Everything slows down and Steve feels his mother's tight grip on his hand leave. He turns around to see his mom fall to the floor._

 _"Mama!" Steve cries and runs to her side, but Nathan grabs him by the back of his shirt._

 _"None of this would have happened if you had just stayed quiet," Nathan shoves the barrel of the gun into Steve's face when the front door of the house flies off the hinges. Nathan drops Steve as multiple officers flood the room with their guns drawn and Steve rushes out of the way, ducking into the front closet to hide. He watches the officers yell and shout orders as Nathan slowly raises his hands and drops his gun. They hand cuff him and quickly push him out of the room. Paramedics rush in soon after along with more police officers._

 _"Hey, Buddy," Steve jumps when he realizes an officer is kneeling in front of the closet he has taken refuge in. Steve ducks deeper into the closet behind the coats. "It's alright, Big Guy. My name is Officer Fury, but you can call me Jack. What's your name?"_

 _Steve stays silent, cautiously studying the man._

 _"Your next door neighbor thought you might be in trouble, so she called us. We're here to help and I'd really like to know what to call you."_

 _Steve just frowns and pushes himself into the corner of the closet._

 _"It's okay, you don't have to tell me you name. We can just sit here and talk if you want," Jack sits against the wall. "How old are you, Big Guy? You don't have to tell me, but can you hold up your fingers and show me?"_

 _Steve pauses before he slowly raises up five little fingers._

 _"Only five? Are you sure you're not 20? I'm pretty sure I've seen you driving around town," Jack smiles at Steve to try to get him to trust him a little and Steve lets a small smirk cross his face at the officer's goofy comment, but it quickly fades._

 _"Where's my mom?" Steve quietly asks and the playful smile on Jack's face drops to a wince._

 _"Why don't we talk about that later, Big Guy. For now, lets take you somewhere safe, okay?"_

 _Steve doesn't move._

 _"Or we can just sit here for a little while until you're ready," Fury smiles softly and sits next to the door._

 _They just sit there in silence for moment until Steve finally whispers, "This is my fault." His gaze is distant, stuck in his own mind as he replays the events of the night_

 _"What?" Fury frowns at Steve. "Where did you come up with that idea? Did he tell you that?"_

 _Steve just bows his head, tears falling down his cheeks._

 _"Look at me, Kid," Fury shifts to his knees and scoots closer to where Steve is sitting in the closet. "Hey, up here, Big Guy," he lifts Steve's gaze to his. "This is not your fault. It's not even close to being your fault. This was him and only him. There was nothing you could have done to stop this or prevent it, you understand me? I want you to look me in the eyes and tell me that it's not your fault, Kid." _

_"It's not my fault," Steve quietly replies through his tears._

 _"It's not. Don't ever forget that, Kid," Fury says firmly. "Now that we have that nonsense behind us, how about we go find somewhere we can get you warmed up and maybe even rustle up a snack?"_

 _Slowly, Steve emerges from the closet and the officer moves to pick him up, trying to shield Steve from the grizzly scene behind him, but Steve catches a glimpse of his mother laying on the floor._

 _"Mama!" Steve shouts and runs past Jack into the living room, pushing past the police officers and paramedics. He runs over to her and grabs her hand, but she doesn't hold his back. "Mom?" Steve sniffs. "Mama, please wake up."_

 _"Hey! Get him out of here," one of the officer orders. "Fury!"_

 _"Come on, Kid," Fury takes off his jacket and wraps it around Steve. "You don't need to be here right now."_

 _"No! Mama! Please, Mom!" Steve cries and grips his mom's hand tighter, but Jack pulls him away and carries him out of the house._ _He opens the door to his squad car, buckling Steve into the back seat._

 _Fury drives Steve to the police station. He sets him up in the Chief's office with paper and crayons to keep him busy, but Steve just sits under the desk, his face tucked behind his knees with Officer Fury's jacket still wrapped around him._

 _A little while later a couple officers come and talk to him about what happened at his house with Nathan. They sit on the floor with him and ask him questions, but Steve doesn't speak. He just stays under the desk. He doesn't want to talk to any of them. He just wants to go home. They finally leave and a short while later Jack comes in to see him._

 _"Hey, Steve," he greets with a soft smile as he peers under the desk. "I finally found out what your name is. I thought you might be hungry so I brought you a sandwich and some juice."_

 _He sets the small meal next to Steve and sits in front of the desk with him. Steve doesn't move or even look at the sandwich. He just stays sitting where he's planted._

 _"Steve, I know you saw some pretty bad stuff tonight and you're scared, but I promise, I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that Nathan will never be able to hurt you or anyone else ever again."_

 _Steve nods, keeping his eyes on the paper in front of him. Slowly, he takes a crayon and scribbles something down on a piece of paper before he picks it up and hands it to Jack. He reads the single word on the paper written in the kid's messy letters: "Mom?"_

 _"Steve," Fury sighs, trying to find the right words to explain a situation that a 5-year old should never have to understand. "Your mom was hurt pretty bad and the paramedics did everything they could…" Jack pauses and looks down at Steve who is looking up at him with tears flooding his eyes. He knows his mom isn't coming back for him. Steve scoots back under the desk and pulls his knees up to his chest and hides his face behind his arms._

 _"I'm so sorry, Steve," Jack frowns. "We're going to find a place to take care of you. A good place," Jack scoots under the desk and wedges himself into the small space with Steve and hugs him. "You're going to be okay, Steve. I know it doesn't feel like it now, but you're going to be okay."_

 _Steve shifts and wraps his arms around Jack, desperate for someone to hold onto._

* * *

 _"Good morning, Steven," Sister Margaret greets him as she walks into the sleeping quarters. There are dozens of beds lined up in neat rows from wall to wall. Normally the room is full of boys who live at the orphanage, but it's midmorning and everyone is outside playing. Everyone, that is, except Steve._

 _Steve glances shyly at the Sister as he sits cross-legged on the bed with his book, but quickly returns his gaze to the pages open in front of him._

 _"Why are you sitting inside on such a beautiful, sunny day?" she smiles sweetly and sits next to him on the bed. Steve just sighs and continues reading his book._

 _"Will you please come with me, Steven?" Sister Margaret stands and holds a hand out to Steve. He closes his book and slides off of his bed, grabbing his inhaler and shoving it into his pocket and taking the Sister's hand in his. She leads him out into the hall and through the double doors to the courtyard._

 _The play yard is a sea of chaos as rambunctious boys run, jump, wrestle, and yell at one another. Balls and dirt fly between groups of kids and one flies past Steve's head. He quickly shifts behind the Sister, nervously peeking out at the intimidating scene. The Catholic Sisters work hard to keep some control of the boys, but there are too many to realistically care for and watch all the time._

 _Steve just stares at the insanity before him. He's only been at St. Mary's Orphanage for a couple days and he hasn't made any friends yet. In fact, he hasn't said a word to anyone since he's arrived. To say he's a little unsure about the idea of playing in the court yard would be an understatement._

 _"Why don't you go and play with the other boys?" the Sister asks. Steve looks at her and then to the mass of humanity in front of him and then back to her and shakes his head. "I think it would be good for you if you tried to make some friends, Steven."_

 _Steve just stares at the play yard, fear written all over his face. Sister Margaret gently nudges him forward and Steve takes a step into the grass before nervously looking back at her. She simply nods and looks out to the yard. Steve takes a deep breath and ventures out into the crowd._

 _He sheepishly weaves in-between groups of boys who are playing games of catch and baseball when one of the baseballs rolls across the grass and stops in front of him. One of the boys runs over and picks up the ball. Steve waves timidly at the boy, but he simply picks up the ball and returns to his friends._

 _His first attempt at making a friend is a fail, but he pushes through to the back of the fenced-in yard and finds a quiet area away from all the noise and turmoil. He picks up a stick from the ground and scribbles out little pictures in the dirt while he watches the cars drive by until the Sisters finally start to call everyone in for dinner._

 _Steve picks himself up and starts back for the building when he spots a group of boys tossing a baseball glove back and forth, playing keep away from one of the other smaller boys. The older boy shoves the small boy down to the ground, waving the glove over him as he tries to grab it. Steve pauses, but keeps on walking toward the orphanage, but all he can think about is how he felt when someone bigger than he was hit him and picked on him._

 _"If you start running, they'll never let you stop." His mothers words surface in his memory and Steve wills himself to turn back. He walks over to the boys and shoves his way through them and helps the little boy up that they were picking on._

 _"What do you think you're doing, Kid?" the taller boy asks, but Steve doesn't say anything. He just grabs the glove out of the boy's hand and gives it back to the kid it belongs to who takes it and runs away. "That was the biggest mistake you'll make today, Kid," the tall boy growls and shoves Steve into the dirt._

 _"No dawdling, Boys!" one of the Sisters calls from across the yard. "It's time to come in for dinner!"_

 _"You got lucky today, Shrimp," the boy frowns, kicking dirt on Steve as he walks by him. "You'd better watch your back."_

 _The group of boys follow after their friend, leaving Steve coughing on the ground. He takes a puff from his inhaler as he picks himself up and brushes the dirt off of himself. He slowly follows in after the rest of the kids and passes Sister Margaret._

 _"You got a little dirty," she smiles. "You must have had fun out in the yard. I told you that you just needed to get out there and meet some of the other boys. I'm sure you'll have lots of friends before you know it."_

 _Steve just sighs and follows the rest of the kids in for dinner, though he's not very hungry. He picks at his food for a little while before he returns to the sleeping quarters and goes to bed early. This whole process goes on for weeks and weeks, though no one notices. Steve slips through the cracks, overshadowed by the rest of the more outgoing and rambunctious boys who require more attention and supervision from the Sisters. They don't notice that Steve is not adjusting well. That he's being picked on and getting into fights almost every day. They don't notice that he still hasn't said a word to anyone since he was first brought here._

 _After he has been at the orphanage for months, a day comes that will change the rest of Steve's life. He sits on the edge of a stone wall with his little, brown paper bag sitting next to him with his lunch in it._

 _"Hey, Rogers," A boy named Neal who regularly bullies Steve calls as he walks by. "I heard some interesting information today from some of the other kids. I heard your old man used to beat up on you and your mom. That he shot her and you didn't do anything to stop him."_

 _Steve stands and faces Neal, the older boy towering over him. Anger flares in Steve's gut when this kid dares to even talk about his mom and things he knows nothing about._

 _"Just tell me it isn't true and I'll believe you," Neal laughs. "Oh wait, I forgot. You don't say anything to anyone because you're a little freak. I guess it must be true then. Because who could resist beating on a little shrimp like you?" Neal laughs and nocks Steve to the ground. Steve picks himself up and takes a swing at Neal, but Neal blocks his punch and hits him in the eye, knocking him to the ground. He snatches Steve's lunch and his inhaler off of the wall he was sitting on and peers into the bag._

 _"You still have a whole sandwich in here. You must not be very hungry," Neal laughs and Steve just glares at him. "Don't worry. I can take care of this for you."_

 _"Hey! Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" an unfamiliar voice shouts._

 _"Why don't you keep moving and mind your own business," Neal turns around to face the boy who would dare step in and challenge him._

 _"Give the kid his lunch and medicine back and we can all walk away."_

 _Steve watches silently, confused as to why this stranger is helping him. No one here has ever helped him or showed him any kindness. Why is this kid doing this?_

 _"Maybe I'm hungry," Neal shrugs. "I already ate my lunch and this sandwich smells pretty good."_

 _"Looks to me like you've already had one too many sandwiches," the boy pokes Neal._

 _'Gutsy, but stupid,' Steve thinks to himself when Neal takes a swing at the boy. The new kid is quick. He ducks and shoves Neal back. When Neal runs at him again, he dips to the side and sticks his leg out to trip the big bully._

 _"You got lucky today, Runt," Neal throws Steve his lunch and his inhaler when he sees one of the nuns looking over their way._

 _Steve takes a puff from his inhaler and quickly dries his eyes before the stranger turns back to him. He's must be waiting for him to hand over his lunch. That's got to be why he chased off Neal. Steve doesn't mind. He doesn't really want the sandwich anyway. If Neal had just asked he would have given it to him._

 _"You okay, Kid?" the boy asks._

 _Steve nods and holds up the paper bag to the new kid. He deserves to take what he's earned. He'd actually rather he have it than Neal anyways._

 _"I don't want your food, Kid." Steve frowns, confused by the boy's statement. "Besides, you look like you need it more than I do."_

 _Steve looks up at the new kid curiously and smiles a little at him. He's taken aback by the boy and that he helped him without expecting anything in return._

 _"You should have one of the Sisters look at your eye, Kid," he frowns and turns to walk away._

 _Steve looks at his sandwich and back at the boy as he walks away. He should say thank you or something. The Kid stuck his neck out on the line for him. No one has ever done that for him before. Steve cautiously follows him through the crowds of kids across the yard, but stops short when he turns around. He tries to choke out a thank you, but he panics, so he just holds up half of his sandwich to him._

 _"Thanks, but I told you, Kid, I don't want your food."_

 _Steve pauses for a moment before he steps forward. He has to do something to thank him. He doesn't have anything else to give him, so he doesn't take no for an answer and he puts the small half sandwich into the boys hand. Unsure of what else to say, he starts to walk away._

 _"Hey - wait," the boy calls and Steve pauses, questioning if the kid is mad at him or not. He did say he didn't want the sandwich. "You wanna eat with me?"_

 _Steve looks back at him, surprised by the offer. Why does he want to eat with him? Is this some sort of trick? What if it's not? He isn't really hunger, but he shouldn't be rude so Steve nods and sits next to him on the ground. He can feel the boy looking at him, but he tries to ignore it while he nervously eats his sandwich._

 _"What's your name, Kid?"_

 _Steve shoots him an unsure glance. He wasn't expecting him to ask him questions. He's still unsure if he should trust this kid or not._

 _"What? I'm not going to bite your head off, Punk," the boy elbows him and smiles. There's something to this kid. He's the first person who has smiled or shown any kindness to Steve since he got here and he did just stand up to Neal for him. He looks over at the boy and makes his decision._

 _"Steve," he answers quietly. It's strange hearing his voice for the first time after weeks of not saying anything to anyone. It kind of feels good to talk to someone again._

 _"Nice to meet you, Stevie. My name's Bucky. Thanks for the grub."_

 _Steve nods back and smiles. No one has called him 'Stevie' since his mom. It's always 'Steve', "Steven', or 'Shrimp', 'Pipsqueak', or worse. It makes Steve happy to hear it again. He sits next to Bucky and finishes his sandwich with his new friend._

* * *

The sun has finally set and the forest is pitch-dark, save for the small amount of light reflected off of the deep blanket of snow on the ground and the flakes pouring from the sky. The moon and any light it may have offered is blocked out with the heavy cloud cover dumping snow down on them.

Between the blizzard and the darkness, Bucky can hardly see anything from where they've setup camp. Normally, being so blind would make him uneasy, but in this instance it's oddly comforting because that hopefully means that the Hydra soldiers currently hunting them can't see them either and he and Steve can lay low until the morning. As much as Bucky hates sitting still, he knows that they need to take advantage of this opportunity. Both he and Steve are running on fumes and they need to just stop and recover as much of their strength as they can.

Their little campsite is working out fairly well for them despite how shallow the crevasse in the rockface is. It's relatively dry and the Dakota fire pit is still burning away providing a little warmth from the biting, winter air. It doesn't give off much light, but Bucky can dimly see the outline of Steve laying on the ground across from him, asleep from the arduous day. He hasn't moved or stirred in quite a while and Bucky is hopeful that means he's at least comfortable and able to rest. A bomb could go off right now and it would not disturb the depleted soldier.

Because of this, Bucky sits propped up against the rock wall fighting off sleep. Someone needs to keep watch for any possible threats. The night is dark, but not dark enough to guarantee they won't be discovered. He's taken precautions by keeping the fire hidden and he's gathered brush in front of where they've bedded down for the night for a little extra camouflage in the blizzard, but Hydra isn't the only threat out here. There are no doubt wild animals who would not give up a chance for a meal in the harsh, winter months when food is scarce. The best chance they have for both of them to make it through the night is for him to stay awake, although staying awake is easier said than done.

"…Bucky?" Steve's quiet murmur catches Bucky as he starts to nod off. "…Buck…"

"Hey, Steve," Bucky quietly shifts over to Steve's side and carefully lifts the bloody bandage covering the bullet wound on his shoulder, pleased to see that the bleeding has markedly improved to a slow ooze. "How are you feeling?"

"Run, Bucky….go…" Steve pants.

Bucky is on guard immediately, grabbing his firearm and scanning the forest in front of them for whatever Steve is telling him to run from, but sees nothing. "Steve, what are you talking about?" he asks, but Steve doesn't answer.

Bucky grabs one of the burning branches out of the fire and risks a little light. With the cove dimly lit he finds that Steve's eyes are closed and he has broken out in a sweat. Despite the cold, he feels warm, his complexion is pale and his respiratory rate is too fast for Bucky's liking. He lays a hand on Steve's arm, feeling his muscles taught and shaking under his touch. Bucky's heart sinks when he pieces together the symptoms: Steve's in pain.

It's got to be the spore. Steve has been dangerously hypothermic all day. The heat of the fire has warmed Steve up considerably, but that in turn has created an environment that the Spore can thrive in inside Steve's system. The hypothermia was keeping the spore dormant, but now it's at full force and the symptoms are starting to show themselves.

He's not a doctor. This is beyond his field training. What does he do? Does he put the fire out, pushing Steve back into hypothermia in the hopes that the Spore will become dormant again and cross his fingers that Steve will survive? Or does he keep Steve warm and, in turn, aid the Spore? If he keeps him cold there's a chance that they could be rescued and they can get Steve the antidote. At least that way he won't be so uncomfortable, but is it worth the risk?

Steve groans, pulling Bucky out of his internal debate. He watches as Steve's jaw clenches and his brow furrows, lost somewhere between the pain and the fever. He has to make a decision. Steve is depending on him right now and he's got to act. It's just him and Steve out here. They can't bank on someone coming to their rescue. He's in Bucky's hands now and he chooses to keep Steve warm. He has to. If no one comes to save them the Hypothermia will surely kill him in his present state, but he at least has a chance against the Spore. He hates the idea of Steve being in pain, but Strucker said it himself that the Spore can't kill Super Soldiers. Hopefully that's still true with Steve's impaired state, but Bucky's willing to put his faith in Steve's strength. He just needs to fight long enough for his body to beat the Spore.

"Just keep fighting, Stevie," Bucky whispers. "Please."


End file.
